


僕の名は。(my name.)

by mintyglitches



Category: K-pop, 君の名は。| Kimi no Na wa. | Your Name., 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Abuse, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Attempted Sexual Assault, Dancer Park Jimin (BTS), Eating Disorders, Fluff and Angst, Gun Crime, M/M, Mentions of Suicide, Mentions of self-harm, Soulmates, Time Travel, Trigger warnings:, jihope - Freeform, jikook - Freeform, vkook
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-03-07 13:22:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 23
Words: 55,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18874036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mintyglitches/pseuds/mintyglitches
Summary: Inspired by the film 君の名は。(Your Name), this fic follows Jeon Jungkook and Park Jimin as they experiences swapping bodies, resulting in one having to save the others life. Under the current circumstances however, this seems nearly impossible to pull off.TW: Major Character Death, Eating Disorder Mentions/References, Near Sexual Assault, Gun Crime, Abusive Parents, Alcohol Abuse, Mentions of suicide, Mentions of self-harm





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> “When two souls fall in love, there is nothing else but the yearning to be close to the other. The presence that is felt through a hand held, a voice heard, or a smile seen. Souls do not have calendars or clocks, nor do they understand the notion of time or distance. They only know it feels right to be with one another. This is the reason why you miss someone so much when they are not there - even if they are only in the very next room. Your soul only feels their absence - it doesn’t realise the separation is only temporary.”  
> \- Lang Leav, ‘Souls’

 

1

 

A pair of eyes opened wide. The soft glow of the sun shining through a window shielded with translucent curtains. Birds were singing and all seemed calm until the sudden realisation.  
Jeon Jungkook was late for school. Again.  
This wasn’t unusual for the boy, but, he had been trying to improve upon this bad habit for a while now. At least when his Mother was home, that is.  
He reached to the floor, attempting to find his school uniform. Only to look up in his tired state and see it hung up all together as his Mother told him so many times it should be. His Mother must have hung it up as a way to finally ease the boy into the habit of doing so himself, he thought. In a rush, and through tired eyes, he put the clothes on and grabbed his bag by the door. His Mother must have moved that as well. He sped down the stairs, allowing his subconscious to carry him to school. Spending his time daydreaming instead and resisting the urge to fall asleep again.

Arriving to school, he had finally woken up somewhat. This made looking at the clock, and calculating which class he should be attending now, a lot easier. He found his classroom and stepped inside, ready to apologise for being late. But as he began to speak, he was interrupted by the voice of his teacher.  
“What are you doing here? Your lesson isn’t for another hour.” Jungkook froze in his step, turning around confused.  
“Sorry?”  
“It’s Tuesday. You don’t start until 11.”  
Jungkook looked around the classroom realising that no one from his class was also there. All eyes were on him and he swallowed the lump in his throat he didn’t even know was there. He nodded and apologised and turned on his heel, leaving the classroom in a hurry. He continued to walk down the hallway, wondering if he had remembered his timetable wrong. Before his thoughts could continue further, an arm wrapped around his throat. His body jolted before the owner of said arm joined his side and let that same arm rest over his shoulders instead. Despite the friendly action, this person wasn’t one of Jungkook’s friends. In fact Jungkook had never even met the boy.  
“Ahh~ There you are! Ready to dance? Jin-hyung wants our help with the new routine, remember?” Why was this guy acting like he knew Jungkook? And who was this so called ‘Jin-hyung’? The boy stopped in his tracks and pulled away as he took a closer look at Jungkook. “You alright? You seem a bit tense.” Jungkook’s eyes were wide in shock and showing clear signs of fear. He didn’t know who this person was, which scared him. When around friends it was easy to be outgoing and charismatic. But when faced with situations like this he would freeze up, uncertain of what to do. “Dude, you look like you’ve seen a ghost, what’s up?” Jungkook opened his mouth as if to speak before closing it again. Maybe he did know this guy. Maybe he had agreed to help with this dance thing. He was too tired to remember. That must be it. This guy did look somewhat familiar, Jungkook supposed.   
“Um, I’m fine. Just tired is all. You caught me off guard.” Jungkook awkwardly laughed it off, trying to act as though everything was normal.   
“Okay, you ready to go then?”  
“Uh, yeah. Course I am, let’s go.” Jungkook responded, hesitance still lingering in his voice. He hadn’t danced in years so why did he agree to help these strangers out with a dance routine. Oh God, the dance routine. Jungkook didn’t even know what routine he was supposed to be helping out with. He continued to follow the boy still, taking in his hair and figure, trying to work out who he was. There was a name of the tip of his tongue and he definitely had seen him before, but from where, he had no idea.

They arrived at the dance studio, it was exactly how Jungkook remembered. The boy immediately went to, who Jungkook assumed to be, the proclaimed ‘Jin-hyung’. He watched them for a second as they spoke, before beginning to approach the two. However, the reflection in the mirror out of the corner of his eye, caught his attention. He turned around to face it, his whole body in view. He didn’t expect what he saw though. The person looking back at him in the mirror… Wasn’t him. He froze in place, staring at this person, trying to take in every detail of what he was seeing. He took slow steps forward. The sound of the two behind him’s conversation dying down as they watched him with curious eyes.   
“Jimin, are you alright? We don’t have to do this if you’re not up for it right now.”  
Jungkook’s heart froze. What? That name wasn’t his… Was it? He reached his hand up to touch his reflection and couldn’t believe that what he was seeing was real. He choked back tears of confusion and shock before speaking up.  
“My name...”  
The two behind him looked at each other confused. Jungkook refused to take his eyes off the one looking at him in the mirror.  
“What’s my name?” He persisted.  
“Park Jimin?” The one who brought him there had responded. He let out a breath that he didn’t know he was holding, The situation washing over him.  
“Park… Jimin…” He fell to the ground, darkness taking over his consciousness. Glimpses of the boys rushing to his aid being the last image he saw.

Jungkook woke up in the nurse’s office, eyes fluttering open. His head felt dizzy as memories of the events that had just happened, flooded his mind. An ice pack rested on his forehead to reduce swelling and a cup of water had been placed on the table next to where he laid. He looked around before the nurse entered the room.  
“Ah. You’re awake, that’s good news.” Jungkook sat up alert and worried, the situation coming into realisation. He needed to get out of there. He needed to get back into his own body.  
“I- I need to leave, like right now.” He began to stand up, picking up his bag before being stood in front of by the nurse, stopping his movements.  
“I’m sorry, but you’re not going anywhere just yet. You’ve experienced a concussion and I’ve been told to look after you until your Mother comes to pick you up. Apparently you have a habit of falling asleep in class so we can’t be too careful.” Defeated, Jungkook fell back into his seat. He laid down again, placing the ice pack back on his forehead grumpily.  
“At least that’s something we have in common,” He muttered to himself. As he said that, the door flew open a bit too aggressively and finally a familiar face came into view. “Taehyung?” Taehyung ran over to Jungkook, throwing his arms around the concussed boy.  
“OH MY GOD JUNGKOOK, YOU’RE OKAY!” He squeezed Jungkook to the point where he started struggling to breathe. Stopping when the nurse began speaking to him.  
“Kim Taehyung, you know you’re not allowed in here unless you’re the one ill or are bringing someone in.”  
“Just give me five minutes. Please.” He made pleading hands, looking at the nurse with big puppy dog eyes, refusing to move until she agreed.  
“Fine. Five minutes.” She moved to a separate part of the room, giving the two some privacy as they spoke. Jungkook had never felt so much relief and joy in his life.  
“You called me Jungkook. You know I’m me?” Taehyung looked at his friend concerned before responding,  
“I think the real question is do YOU know you’re you?”  
“What?”  
“What was that all about? You acted as if you’d never seen yourself before.”  
“Wait, what are you talking about? You mean in the dance studio?” Jungkook’s head was getting confused, did all that happen or not? It felt real and it seemed to be real but also… Not?  
“Dance studio? No, in math.”   
“But I didn’t go to math. Mrs. Oh wouldn’t let me in.” Taehyung’s relief that Jungkook was okay had quickly turned back into concern.  
“Jungkook, what are you talking about?”  
“If I wasn’t in the dance studio then how did I get a concussion?”  
“You were handing out the books and saw your reflection and passed out. You hit your head on the table on the way down. Do you not remember?”  
As Jungkook was beginning to try and figure out what happened, the nurse had returned.  
“Okay Mr. Kim. Time’s up. Go to class.” She clapped trying to usher him out of the room. He turned to Jungkook to say his goodbyes.  
“I have Mr. Lee next so I’ll text you after he’s done the register, okay?” Jungkook nodded in response as the nurse gave a disapproving look to Taehyung. “Love you!” He ruffled Jungkook’s hair and left, closing the door behind him. Jungkook left alone with his thoughts once again.  
_Was it all a dream? Or a hallucination? What the hell is going on?_


	2. 2

 

2

 

A loud piercing ring erupted through the air, waking up an exhausted Park Jimin. He turned it off, annoyed at the harsh alarm playing instead of the soft song he thought he had originally set. As he sat up, he immediately noticed his surroundings.  
This wasn't his room.  
He looked around, inspecting each wall. Yup, definitely not his room. Instead of the neat, immaculate shelves of CD’s and textbooks that would usually cover the boy's walls, various posters took their place. The floor once clean and orderly, was now strewn with clothes. And random piles of crumpled, unfinished homework covered certain corners of the room. He picked up a school shirt from the floor, hesitantly smelling it to see if it was clean. How someone could live in such a mess, he’d never understand. Once dressed he went downstairs to an empty kitchen, and an even emptier living room.  
“Hello?” He clutched at his throat, noticing the change, his voice much deeper and more calm in tone compared to usual. He coughed before trying to call out again. “Where the hell am I?!” Usually in dreams he’d at least be somewhere he’d seen before, and he wouldn’t be alone as well. _Weird._ Giving up at the lack of response, he made his way over to the fridge. A note attached with tape rested on the door of the cooling machine.

_Try not to be late for school this time hun._  
_There’s sushi in the fridge and some change on the counter._  
_Have fun sweetheart.  
_ _\- Mom x_

He opened the fridge and three tubs, labelled with small intricate doodles stood out. Taking out each tub, Jimin looked inside each of them, curious about what selection there was. One tub was filled with sashimi, another with onigiri and the last with some sticky rice and some thin slices of pork belly. A caring Mother figure making meals for him? This was definitely a dream, Jimin thought. Why did he have to go to school in this one as well though? It’d be more interesting than being sat in this house alone though…  
He sealed up the tubs once again and placed them in his bag ready to leave.  
Opening the front door lead Jimin to realise that he had no idea which way school actually was. He had never explored the area he lived in, usually keeping to himself. So knowing directions from random locations wasn't his speciality.  
Since this is a dream, surely any way would be correct, right?  
With that thought in mind, he set off in whichever direction felt ‘right’ to him. Instinct and hope leading the way.

He arrived at the school, wondering why his dream continued though the entire journey. Usually his dreams would skip from main event to main event, right? The visuals of two boys unfamiliar to him, caused a distraction from his line of thinking. They were smiling and waving, seemingly in his direction. At first he was uncertain if their waves were aimed towards him or not. But when they made their way over to him, he was overcome with certainty.  
“Hey, you actually managed to be on time. Good job.” One of the students said, going in for a bro-type handshake.  
“I’m always on time, excuse you.” Jimin retaliated. He had never been late to school once in his life, in real life or in his dreams. He’d be damned if he was going to let these dream friends assume anything else.  
“Right, right. It’s everyone else that’s early, of course.” The shorter, more energetic of the two chimed in. Impatient with the pace of the day, Jimin spoke up in an attempt to make something interesting happen.  
“So… What now? Is something interesting going to happen or is it just a typical school day?” The phrasing seemed strange to the other two, but they let it slide. They assumed that they understood what the boy in front of them meant anyway.  
“I mean, I’m down for skipping but we still have that mock science test to do so maybe we should wait until after that.” The shorter replied before looking to the other of the two to get his opinion on the situation.  
“Look, you two can skip but I actually care about my grades and attendance. So you’ll be on your own I’m afraid.”  
“Oh come on, Mr. second highest in the class. It’s not like you actually need to attend lessons. It’s like you have a whole computer wedged in your brain.”  
“Or maybe, I just actually pay attention in class and study.” The two were clearly close friends and didn’t mean any of it maliciously. Even though Jimin was curious to hear the shorter’s comeback, the bell rang, disrupting the conversation. “Okay, I’ll see you guys in class, I have to hand something to Mr. Kang quickly.”   
“Bye Namjoon-hyung!” The one called Namjoon ran off, rummaging through his bag for some papers whilst running.  
“Yeah bye, Namjoon… Hyung?” He wasn’t sure on the ages or if honorifics were needed but figured it was safer to go with rather than without. If asked on it he could always say that Namjoon simply seemed like a hyung to him. The boy, still with him, turned back to Jimin before he spoke.  
“So you really want to skip after the test?”  
“Sure, fuck it. Why not, right?” It was only a dream after all, he was allowed to have some fun, right? Especially when it was expected of him, or whatever character he was playing.

“The test will last for thirty minutes. After that we'll have another thirty minutes to discuss what we found difficult. Then we can help determine what to focus on next term. Everyone understand?”  
Jimin was usually quite good at science, but this paper seemed to cover things he hadn’t learned. Or at least not in as much depth as he needed to complete it with ease.  
He still managed to finish before the thirty minutes were up though. Spending his remaining time going through all his answers and guessing any he had left based on the other answers he had given.  
Once the whole class had finished, students handed in their tests, and prepared for the discussion portion to begin. “So if Jungkook could hand out the books for us to begin writing our lists in, that’d be great.” The teacher said with a smile as the whole class turned to look at Jimin after a lack of response. Realising that he must have been this so called ‘Jungkook’, he got up from his seat. He hesitated before walking over to a box labelled ‘Books’ and reaching inside, grabbing as many as he could. He panicked realising that he didn’t know who was who until he remembered they all had name tags on their blazers. He looked down at his noticing that it did in fact say ‘Jeon Jungkook’ rather than ‘Park Jimin’ like he assumed. He began handing out the books in correlation to people’s name tags, but stopped when he looked up for a second. A mirror with the caption ‘Deadliest Creature Alive’ above it stared back at him. It wasn’t the caption that caught his attention though, it was the face looking back at his, and how it didn’t belong to him. He dropped the books in shock, everyone turning to look at the boy standing with terror on his face. His eyes fluttered back and a strong THUMP attacked his head as everything turned black.

There was a cooling sensation on Jimin’s face as he woke up. He laid on the floor of his dance studio, Hoseok, Seokjin, and Yoongi crowded around him. Yoongi holding a fan, cooling his face but stopping when seeing the boy was awake.  
“Told you he’d be alright.” Yoongi got up, walking away and grabbing his bag. “Can I go to class now?”  
“Don’t you want to stick around? Make sure he’s alright?” Hoseok spoke up.  
“I mean, yeah, but Mr. Ahn’s a bit of a prick and I’m trying REALLY hard not to fail his class again. Just text me updates?” Hoseok nodded in response as Yoongi left the room. Hoseok and Seokjin turning back to Jimin laying in front of them on the floor.  
“I just had the weirdest fucking dream.”


	3. 3

 

 

3

 

Jungkook and Taehyung walked together, Namjoon running up from across the hall.  
“Holy shit, you’re okay.” He hugged Jungkook tight, “guess you guys aren’t skipping anymore?”  
“Considering the amount of effort it took just to get Nurse Yeona to allow Jungkook to go to lunch? I’m going to have to say you’re correct in guessing that.”  
“Wait, what? We were going to skip?” Jungkook looked confused, yet hopeful at the two. Namjoon’s expression turned more worried with the question.  
“Since you don’t even remember deciding to skip, I think it’s better we don’t.”  
“Oh come on, what if we just go out for lunch instead?” The two looked at him unimpressed before he turned to Taehyung, resting his arm around him. “I’ll buy you a milkshake?” The bribe working its magic on the boy almost instantaneously.  
“Okay, sold, let’s go.  
“Wait, are you guys serious? Jungkook suffered a HEAD INJURY.” Namjoon took the responsible role, attempting to stop the two from behaving recklessly. Something they commonly did.  
“Yeah, and I want McDonalds to make me feel better," Jungkook whined.  
“If you’re concerned about his head Namjoon, maybe you should just come with us,” Taehyung added. After some hesitation, Namjoon finally gave in, agreeing to go with them both. He continuously insisting it was to make sure Jungkook stayed safe.  
“It was like I was a completely different person. My room was a mess. I had a Mom who, although wasn’t actually in the house, had made me lunch. I had different friends. I had a science test of all things. And then I… I don’t know... Then I woke up, I guess.” Hoseok looked at Jimin intrigued as he handed the cup of water to him.  
“Probably had something to do with your little identity crisis you had before passing out.” Hoseok suggested.  
“What identity crisis? What do you mean?” Hoseok and Seokjin looked at each other suddenly worried. Did he not remember anything?  
“Maybe we  _should_  take you to the nurse.” Seokjin stated, the worry clearly evident in his voice.  
“No, I’m fine now. What identity crisis?” Jimin couldn’t help the curiosity, it fit too well with what he had dreamt about and he wanted to know what fully happened to him.  
“You uh… I don’t know. You were acting weird before, but I just shook it off as you being tired or whatever. But when you got to the studio… You looked in the mirror and it seemed as if you didn’t recognise yourself.” Hoseok was unable to hide the concern laced in each of his words, but it was a concerning situation.  
“Then you asked us what your name was.” Seokjin added.  
“And as soon as we told you, boom, you collapsed.”  
“That’s… I don’t even remember any of that…” Jimin started to get scared for himself.  
“Okay, no, Yoongi was right, we should have taken you to the nurse.” Seokjin said before getting up to leave. Jimin called for him, trying to stop the elder from getting more people involved, but failed to stop him in time. He sighed in defeat before Hoseok began talking to him again. This time he spoke a lot quieter and Jimin could hear the concern more obvious than ever.  
“You really don’t remember?”  
“None of it.” Hoseok nodded in understanding, hesitating before continuing.   
“You know I have to ask, right?”  
“Hoseok…”  
“You fainted Jimin. I have to.” Jimin looked at him with understanding mixed with shame in his eyes. “Are you eating properly?”  
“Yes.”  
“What have you eaten today?”  
“I don’t remember today, hyung.” Jimin closed his eyes trying to somehow work out what the hell was going on. “As far as I was aware, I was some kid called… Jungkook? Ugh, my head feels weird.” He gripped at his head for a moment, allowing the situation to wash over him. He removed his hands, looking up, and then at Hoseok, repositioning his body to hold the elder’s hands in his. “I promise you, Hoseok. Whatever this is. It’s not that, okay?”  
“Okay… I just worry about you.” Hoseok’s voice went even quieter. “I don’t want you to end up in hospital again…”  
“And I don’t want to be in hospital again. It’s not… That. Okay, Hobi? I swear.” Hoseok looked empathically at Jimin.  
“Okay.” He kissed the top of Jimin’s head, causing the younger to squirm slightly whilst giggling.  
“Stop, there’ll be rumors again.” He laughed.  
“I won’t tell if you won’t.” He kissed Jimin’s head again and pulled him into a hug, leaning his head on his shoulder. He stroked his hair sweetly as he looked at their reflection together in the mirror. Concern showed on his face, as a million thoughts ran through the boy’s head.  
He just wanted Jimin to be okay.

 

“No, I swear. It was the weirdest fucking thing and it felt SO REAL. Like I legit believed I was this Park Jinyoung kid.” Jungkook, Namjoon and Taehyung ate their lunch in the outside seating area of McDonalds as Jungkook recounted the events of his concussed dream. He had come to the realisation that it was a dream. There’s no other thing it could be. Sure some things were similar to what had apparently happened before he woke up, but that happens in dreams all the time, right? Jungkook continued to bite into his burger as the conversation continued.  
“Park Jinyoung? Like JYP Park Jinyoung?” Taehyung couldn’t help himself but to make a weird connection no matter how unrelated.  
“Look, it was a dream, okay? There are only so many names in this head of mine.” He tapped at his head as he stated as such. “Besides, I’m not even sure it WAS Park Jinyoung. Although it would make sense if it was, right? I was listening to Twice last night!” He suddenly got really excited as this revelation which could help confirm it was, in fact, a dream. “Twice! Who are UNDER…” He prompted the others to join him in this revelation.  
“JYP, yeah we got it.” Namjoon said bluntly. He looked off into nowhere, deep in his own thoughts regarding the situation. His doubts and theories chased each other around as he mindlessly ate his fries.  
“What’s with you?” Taehyung asked before sticking a fry in his mouth.  
“Nothing, I just… It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.” They all continued to eat while the same image of thought remained painted along Namjoon’s face. Taehyung started to drink from his milkshake. Stopping when noticing Namjoon still zoned out from the rest of them.  
“Seriously dude, why do you look like you’re having an existential crisis?”  
“What? No, ugh, it just… It just reminds me of something someone I used to know said. It doesn’t matter.” Jungkook was suddenly alert and the entire air around him changed as doubt crept back into his mind.  
“Wait, who?” Jungkook asked. Taehyung looked at the younger confused, unsure of the reasoning for his question.  
“Look, the guy was in mourning. It doesn’t matter what he said because it didn’t make any sense, okay?” He drank from his drink as the group turned silent from the harsh tone in his voice. Jungkook was the one to finally break the silence.  
“I’m going to go get more nuggets.” He abruptly left the table to go order them, leaving Namjoon and Taehyung to talk alone. Namjoon leant in to Taehyung, speaking in a softer more hushed tone.  
“He seemed weird this morning, right? Like before the concussion?”  
“I mean… He was a bit off, sure, but why-”  
“Almost as if he wasn’t Jungkook, right?” Taehyung put his milkshake down and closed his eyes in confusion.  
“Namjoon… Where are you going with this?”  
“What if it wasn’t a dream?” Taehyung opened his eyes and looked at Namjoon with a you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me expression. Namjoon sighed before continuing further. “Taehyung, what if he is actually switching places with someone?”  
“You realise how crazy you sound, right?” Taehyung sounded unimpressed. “Besides, he still went to our school, and I certainly don’t know any Park Jinyoung’s here.”  
“He said he only THOUGHT his name was Park Jinyoung. It could have very easily been something else.”  
“You’re crazy.”  
“Think about it. He was on time this morning, and then said that he’s always on time… Jungkook is never on time!” Namjoon sounded as though he was so certain of this theory, but Taehyung wasn’t buying it for a second.  
“Is that seriously all the evidence you have?” For someone who liked to get all the evidence before making assumptions, Namjoon seemed to be a bit ahead of himself here.  
“He also gave me the wrong book,” Namjoon added.  
“What are you talking about?”  
“After the test when he was handing out the books. He gave me the other Kim Namjoon’s book.”  
“That could have easily been a mistake.”  
“I have Mangnanyeon drawn on mine. He knows this. Yet he still gave me the wrong one. It’s at least suspicious, don’t you think?” Taehyung knew he couldn’t change the older’s mind on this.  
“Well, even if he did… Switch bodies or whatever. He’s back now. Does it really matter?” Namjoon paused before responding.  
“I guess not.”  
“Exactly.” They both sighed, leaning back in their chairs as Jungkook showed up with a twenty box of nuggets. The two looked at him, Taehyung mainly looking at the nuggets. “If you don’t let me have at least one, I’m going to be so mad.” Jungkook scoffed a laugh as he sat down again, Taehyung and Namjoon exchanging a look.

A day had passed since the strange dream had occurred. And now matter how hard he tried, Jungkook couldn’t find himself able to think about anything else. He was sat in class, trying to sketch the face he had seen in the dream, getting frustrated when he couldn’t remember the little details. Mid-sketch, he could feel the eyes of the entire class on him, causing him to look up from his sketch. His teacher had been standing there for probably a lot longer than they both would have liked.  
“A bit distracted today?” She asked.  
“Uh, yes, I uh… It’s the head injury from before… I uh- I have a note.” The teacher looked down at the drawing as Jungkook reached into his bag to retrieve a note from the nurse explaining his condition. She completely ignored the note, choosing to focus on the drawing instead.  
“It’s good... It’s not science though,” she said.  
“I know. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”  
“Your paper.” She let the papers from the mock test fall onto his desk over the drawing he had been doing. “I’ll let you off since it seems like you’ve actually been studying for a change.” She left Jungkook, his note still in hand, and resumed giving the other students their papers. Jungkook looked down at the paper, eyes growing wide at the score.  
 _97?_


	4. 4

 

 

4

 

 

“Guys… Did I cheat on the science mock?”  
Jungkook had stopped Taehyung and Namjoon on the way to lunch, the question coming up from seemingly nowhere.  
“No? Why?”  
“I hope not.” Namjoon pitched it.  
“I got a 97…” The two raised their eyebrows in unison, both clearly shocked.  
“Wha- HOW?! Even Namjoon couldn’t help you. How’d you get amazing overnight?” Taehyung exclaimed.  
“I have no idea, I don’t even remember taking the test!” Namjoon decided to remain silent, watching as his theory grew stronger. He secretly enjoyed watching Taehyung scramble to explain what was happening in any other way.  
“Wait, didn’t your Mom get you a new tutor?”  
“Yeah, but-”  
“Then clearly he’s just doing a really good job.” Taehyung thought he had cracked it until Jungkook responded.  
“Yeah, except he doesn’t actually teach me science. It’s just an excuse for him to come over.” Taehyung and Namjoon exchanged a look between each other. The same thought occurring in each other's mind. “Wait! I just realised how that seemed. Nothing like that! He just plays Overwatch with me.”  
“Doesn’t your Mom pay him though?” Namjoon asked questioningly, receiving a small nod from Jungkook in response.  
“Wait, so he gets paid to play Overwatch with you? I could do that!” Taehyung sounded almost offended, but Jungkook knew he was mostly joking.  
“Yeah, except she knows you.”  
“You really are a terrible student, aren’t you…” Namjoon was in shock, yet impressed at how Jungkook was even still in school.  
“Hey… I’m good at art, and that’s the only one I really need to be good at.”  
“Not if you want to graduate.”  
“Okay, how about we don’t do this right now and instead actually sit down and eat.” Taehyung interjected, moving his arm as if to motion the others to hurry up and sit down.  
  
  
Jimin had fallen asleep in class, the bell ringing as the other students began to leave. The teacher, Mrs. Ong, knelt down to Jimin’s desk, resting her head on her arms as she watched him wake up, eyes fluttering open. He sat up slightly embarrassed and the teacher resumed to her upright position.  
“Late night last night?” She asked, voice laced with empathy and mild concern.  
“Something like that…”  
“Is everything alright?” Jimin looked around,  
“Where is everyone?”  
“Lunch. Is everything okay at home?” She reiterated her concern, not letting Jimin change the subject.  
“Yeah, everything’s fine. Why do you ask?”  
“Well you didn’t show up to last lesson and you fell asleep in this one… It’s just very unlike you is all.”  
“Oh, yeah. I had a bit of an incident last lesson.”  
“Incident?”  
“Yeah I uh… I passed out in the dance studio.” He looked down ashamed, not really wanting any further questions about it. Instead, wanting to put the whole day behind him.  
“Passed out? Why didn’t the nurse notify me?”  
“I didn’t go to the nurse. I just stayed in the dance studio with Hoseok.”  
“That would be why he didn’t show up either… You’re feeling better now though? You can go home if you need more rest.”  
“Yeah, I’m okay now. I’m just tired. I kept-” Jimin stopped himself, hesitant to continue. “I just kept waking up in the middle of the night. I kept… I kept thinking I was hearing gunshots, I…” His voice trailed off. Just as everything was getting better in Jimin’s life, it felt as though things were slowly crumbling down again.  
“Gunshots?”  
“Yeah, I think it was just in my head though. The past few days have been pretty weird so I’m not surprised.” Mrs. Ong caught movement in the corner of her eye and turned to look at the door. Hoseok, Seokjin, and Yoongi had crowded around the window section of the door, peering in.  
“I’m thinking I best let you go to lunch.” Jimin looked at the door confused, laughing when he saw them all there. Hoseok furiously waved with the biggest grin on his face, as the others smiled as well. “Stay safe, okay Jimin? I worry about you. Your Dad too.” She smiled sadly.  
“I worry about him as well… Thanks, uh…” He looked to the door, seeing Seokjin yelling. “I should go.” The teacher looked over and, with a matching expression of confusion, let Jimin leave.

Jimin walked out of the classroom, catching the end of Seokjin’s rant.  
“THIS IS WHY WE CAN’T HAVE NICE THINGS, HOSEOK! DID YOU EVER THINK ABOUT THAT, HUH? HUH? HUH!?!” He was now out of breath, face red from the amount of strength and passion he was putting into his rambling yell.  
“What the fuck did I miss?” Jimin asked.  
“I told him that my Mom didn’t make enough kimchi last night for me to bring him extras.” Hoseok replied.  
“Right…”  
“It’s a crime! I’m a growing boy, I need a lot of food!”  
“Anyway, Jimin! How was your nap?” Yoongi interrupted. They all looked at Jimin.  
“Yeah, are you sleeping alright?” Hoseok added.  
“I just kept waking up a lot last night, don’t worry about it.”  
“How come?” Part of Jimin really wished Yoongi hadn’t asked that.  
“I uh… I kept hearing gunshots.”  
“You what?!” Hoseok sounded worried, both Yoongi and Seokjin’s expressions showing that same worry.  
“I don’t think they were real, I must have been dreaming about a gun fight or something.”  
“What, repeatedly?” Yoongi sounded doubtful.  
“Yeah, you have to admit it’s a bit weird.” Hoseok added,  
“Are you sure it wasn’t real?” Seokjin asked.  
“Yes! I’m sure! There hasn’t been gun crime in my area since… Well since my Mom…” Everyone in the group went quiet, knowing how sensitive Jimin was about that topic.  
“It might have been a reoccurring dream about your Mom… It’d make sense, I mean… I still have dreams about my Dad’s death…” Hoseok said.  
“Wait, you do?” Yoongi felt bad about not knowing that. He always put on such a happy face for others that you’d never know anything like that was going on behind that bright smile of his.  
“It’s not so bad, I mean. My Dad wasn’t brutally murdered or anything, it was just cancer so-”  
“Can we please stop talking about this.” Jimin interrupted, eyes unfocused and glued to the ground, and teeth clenching. They all looked empathetically at Jimin, going quiet once again. In an attempt to lighten up the mood and change the subject, Seokjin spoke up.  
“Maybe the American dinner lady is on duty again. She’ll let me have extra kimchi for sure.”  
“You really need to stop flirting with her, you know?” Hoseok continued the conversation to help keep things light.  
“I can’t help it. Americans just love my charm.” Seokjin put his fingers up to his chin as if displaying his face, before walking off, Hoseok following behind.  
“No, they love your face. There’s a difference!”  
Yoongi and Jimin walked behind the others at a slower pace, talking in a quieter tone compared to the louder members of the group in front. For a moment they walked in silence. The air settling around them comfortably as they took in each other's atmosphere.  
“You okay?” Yoongi spoke softly. He knew Jimin was trying to play it off as though it was nothing. But he could tell there was something bothering him.  
“Yeah, yesterday was really weird and… I don’t know, I feel… Different?”  
“Different?”  
“Like… Like I’m more than just me now? Does that make any sense?” Jimin knew he sounded crazy, but he and Yoongi had grown an understanding with each other over the years. They had agreed that there should be no judgement between them, only love, support, and whatever the other needed to get through life.  
“I’d be lying if I said I understood, to be honest.”  
“I don’t remember anything from yesterday except for that stupid dream, and God it felt so real! I can’t stop thinking about his face, and his name. But the more I think about them, the less I remember them, and it’s driving me insane, Yoongi. I…” He trailed off, partly not knowing what to say, and partly just embarrassed that he could open up so easily. He knew he didn't make sense, but he couldn't help himself.  
“Are you sure it was a dream?..”  
“Of course it was a dream there’s no way it WASN’T a dream.” Yoongi thought to himself for a moment.  
“Did you use technology in it?”  
“Yeah, I used my, or his, phone to turn off the alarm, and I think I looked at the time at one point as well.”  
“And…?”  
“And, what?”  
“So… Nothing weird happened with it?”  
“No, what-”  
“Technology doesn’t usually work properly in dreams, Jimin.”  
And just like that, it felt as if Jimin’s world was spinning once again.


	5. 5

 

 

5

 

Jimin’s eyes snapped open. A sleepy haze almost consumed him back to the world of sleep and slumber, until he remembered it was a Saturday. Shit. It was a Saturday. Why didn’t his alarm go off? In a panic, he scrambled out of bed in an attempt to get ready for work. Only to instead trip over something on the floor and land face first in a pile of clothes. He looked up and, shortly after, realised he was back in the same room from his dream a few nights ago. He stood up quickly, taking in his surroundings before remembering what Yoongi had said a few days prior.  
 _“Technology doesn’t usually work properly in dreams, Jimin.”  
_ _“Your phone should have behaved strangely.”  
_ _“If it happens again, look at the time, look away, and look at the time again. If you’re dreaming, it should say something different with each look.”  
_ He reached for his - well, Jungkook’s - phone, and turned the screen on. He looked at the time, taking it in and repeating it to himself like a mantra.  
“Twelve thirty-four … Twelve thirty-four … Twelve thirty-four…” He turned off the phone’s screen again, counted to ten, and turned it back on. The same time displayed on the screen. “Twelve thirty… Four... Shit.” He began repeating the same actions. On, off, on, same time. He started gaining speed, refusing to believe that any of this was real. His eyes widened as his finger frantically clicked the button. Before giving up, throwing the phone to the floor in horror and walking to the mirror at a quick pace to look at himself. He stopped abruptly upon noticing his body. He hadn’t noticed it before, but he wasn’t wearing a shirt. Where usually would lay a flat yet soft tummy, stood a set of abs and a defined v line poking out from his pyjama bottoms. Feelings of jealousy mixed with awe rushed over him as he stroked lightly on the six pack staring at him. He forced himself to snap out of it.  
“Wait… Does that mean-?”  
 _This is real?_

 

A blaring alarm pulled Jungkook out of his sleep, earning a groan of frustration to escape the boys mouth. Grumpily, he reached over to turn off the alarm, reading the caption ‘work’ flashing on screen.  
 _Work? I don’t have a job though?  
_ He closed his eyes and rolled over onto his back, accepting the fact that his sleep had been interrupted and there was no going back. As his eyes fluttered open again, his sight was greeted with several glow-in-the-dark stars stuck on the ceiling above him. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion before sitting up sharply and looking around. His suspicions grew and he walked over to the full length mirror in the corner of the room. Sure enough the reflection he saw was the same boy he had seen the day he fainted.  
He looked over his body in the mirror, trying to take in every little detail. His eyes finding his way past the worn out t-shirt and down to the bulge in his boxers, swallowing a lump in his throat he didn’t even know he had. He shook away his thoughts, turning away from the image, instead turning his focus to the wardrobe now stood in front of him. He opened it up, looking at the contents, tongue in cheek as he felt disapproving of the boys taste in style. Looking back in the mirror he looked at the boys hair, touching it slightly.  
 _Might as well have some fun in this body.  
_ He went back to his bed, still partially undressed, and grabbed his phone unlocking it, grateful that it wasn’t password protected. He tried typing in Namjoon’s number from memory but when calling, it only stated that the number wasn’t in service. He then tried Taehyung’s number. He knew that he'd called it from other phones enough times in his life to memorise it by now.  
“Hello?” Taehyung’s voice called out from the other side,  
“Taehyung, what’s up? You down for some shopping instead?” There was an air of silence.  
“Sorry… Who is this?” Jungkook suddenly remembered that of course. Taehyung wouldn’t recognise his voice. Because, right now, it wasn’t  _his_ voice. Panicked, he hung up the phone call and thought about the people he met the first time this happened. He looked through his phone contacts, using the picture icons to see if any of them matched the faces from that day. “Jung... Hoseok...” He clicked on the contact, distinctly remembering the boy.  
“Hey, what’s up?” His voice as bright as ever shined through the phone,  
“You busy?”  
“No, why?”  
“Wanna hang out?” A smirk grew on Jungkook’s face as he caught his reflection in the mirror once more.  
 _Today was going to be fun._

 

The distinct sounds of chopping filled the air as Jimin made his way down the stairs. He had drenched himself in a massive black hoodie slumped over his body. A woman wearing an apron was in the kitchen, chopping vegetables in preparation for a meal.  _This must be his Mom._  Part of Jimin was telling him to go back upstairs and hide, but the universe wouldn’t let him do such a thing.  
“Still not setting alarms I see?” She chuckled to herself, continuing to cut a carrot with ease. Jimin was almost afraid to answer, completely frozen in place at the entrance of the kitchen. She looked over at him as she waited for an answer.  
“Yeah, haha.” He reached behind his neck, a nervous habit that shined when feeling uncomfortable. He really had no idea what to say.  
“You alright, hon? You look a bit out of it.” She continuously switched her focus from the task at hand and her supposed-son,  
“Yeah, I’m good. Great actually, uh...”  
“You sure? You look like you have a fever.” She put down her utensils, making her way over to the boy and placing the back of her hand gently across his forehead. Jimin couldn’t help but remember the touch of his own Mother. He felt a flood of emotions all cave in at once and didn’t know how to respond. He looked at the woman in awe and fascination, her adoring gaze looking back in response. “Hmm, you feel fine.” She returned back to cooking and Jimin hadn’t ever wanted to cherish and appreciate a moment more. He missed the feeling of being loved and cared for. It had been so long. Jimin still hadn’t moved or spoken a word causing Jungkook’s Mother to look at him in concern. To break the silence she spoke up. “What time’s Taehyung coming over again?”  
“Hm?”  
“Taehyung. Was that not today?” Just as she asked, the doorbell rang. Jimin could see a clear silhouette through the frosted glass of the door. Deciphering it as a figure that he recognised from the previous time this had happened.  _This must be Taehyung.  
_ “Uh, yes. That was today, and I think that’s him now.” He quickly made his way over to the door as Mrs. Jeon wiped her hands on her apron. She fixed her hair and stood up straight in an attempt to look more presentable for the incoming guest. As Jimin swung the door open, the image of the boy from the other day, that he assumed to be Taehyung, filled his view. Instantly he was thrown into an uncomfortable situation. Taehyung’s hand flew out and began moving against Jimin’s, doing a specific handshake that Jimin had no idea how to do. His hand instead flew around aimlessly in an attempt to keep up with the actions. Taehyung stared at the boy in front of him for a moment before bursting out into a boxy grin.  
“Guessing you’ve only just woken up?” A laugh escaped his mouth as he ruffled a hand through Jimin’s hair. He made his way over to Jungkook’s Mother.  
“Taehyung-ah!” Her arms stretched out in preparation to envelope Taehyung into a hug.  
“Hey Mrs. Jeon. How’s life treating you?”  
“No different that when you asked me last week. I do fear however, that our Jungkook may be a little bit ill.” They both look over to Jimin who seemed to be watching the scene unfold. “He doesn’t feel hot or anything but… Something’s definitely up.” Hearing the boy’s name comes along with a flood of memories.  _Of course. Jungkook. That was his name._  
“Guys, I’m fine. Really.” Jimin’s argument didn’t sound convincing in the slightest. “Seriously. Taehyung. I’m okay. Don’t worry.” He looked directly at Taehyung whose face shifted slightly. Jungkook had been calling Taehyung ‘Tae’ since they were kids… What changed? Why was he using his full name now? Forcing a grin, Taehyung responded,  
“I trust you.” A pause occurred before Taehyung took matters into his own hands. “Shall we go up?” Pointing his finger towards the stairs as he looked at Jimin for an answer who simply nodded in response. Smiling, he lead the way, his friend following shortly behind. Goodbyes exchanged by Taehyung and Mrs. Jeon as they made their way up the stairs.

They entered Jungkook’s room and Jimin immediately began pushing the clothes on the floor to the edges of the room in an attempt to make it appear neater.  
“Sorry about the mess.”  
“You act like I’m not used to it.” Taehyung chuckled at the boy’s actions. Jimin felt himself get embarrassed so stopped. He looked at Taehyung’s grin and choose to sit on the edge of Jungkook’s bed instead. Embarrassment and discomfort taking over his actions. He really had no idea what to do now. How was he supposed to hang out with someone he had met once, yet act though they were great friends? Saving Jimin from his thoughts, Taehyung had walked over to Jungkook’s chest of draws. He held a copy of Overwatch in his hand, holding it up for Jimin to see. “Overwatch?” Jimin hesitated before noticing the various posters in the room.  _It’d be weird if he turned down playing a game he loved, right?_  With this thought in mind, he nodded enthusiastically as if excited to play.  
If only he knew how to actually play it.

 

In the distance was the clear image of the one and only, Jung Hoseok. Although only having met once before, Jungkook could tell immediately who the dancer’s silhouette belonged to. A big smile on Jungkook’s face made its way into existence. Something about that man made Jungkook feel lighter and more cheerful. Which was nice considering he was basically a complete stranger. As said stranger got closer, he was pulled abruptly into a tight hug by Jungkook. A high pitched sound of surprise escaped Hoseok’s lips in response.  
“Oh! Jimin, you good?” Jungkook pulled Hoseok away from his body, eyes wide with excitement at the mention of the boy’s name.  
“YES! JIMIN!” He pointed in remembrance. Of course! His name name was Jimin, not Jinyoung. How could he forget? Hoseok chuckled in awkward confusion before asking a question he hadn’t a chance to when on the phone earlier.  
“Aren’t you supposed to have work today?”  
“Screw work. I’m getting a makeover.”  
“A makeover?”  
“Hell yeah. New clothes, new hair. Maybe even a new piercing.” Jungkook shrugged his shoulders on the last one, seeming as though it was such a casual thing to impulsively get. Hoseok’s brow furrowed and he blinked quickly as he tried to make sense of the situation.  
“A piercing? Your Father would kill you!”  
“Oh. So I do actually have a Dad? Good to know.” Both times Jungkook had woken up in Jimin’s house, there was no sign of anyone else living there. It should have been obvious that  _someone_  had to be looking after Jimin. But he figured it was probably an older brother or someone that also had to go to school. Maybe Jimin’s Dad just goes to work early? He grabbed Hoseok’s arm and began pulling him along. He attempted to pull him into the shopping complex up ahead, but Hoseok jolted and pulled his arm away in horror.  
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Something seemed wrong with Jimin. Not caring about work? Wanting a piercing? And that comment about his Dad… Hoseok couldn’t help but be concerned about the boy in front of him. Something about him felt really… Off.  
“Nothing is  _wrong_  with me. I just want to have some fun, is that a crime?”  
“No, you just seem… Different. That’s all.” Jungkook took a second to think it through. It would be a bit weird for your friend’s personality to change so suddenly and out of the blue. And it  _was_ Jimin’s body after all. Maybe a piercing was a bit too far…  
“You’re right… Sorry. And I shouldn’t get a piercing. You’re right. Dad would kill me.” He awkwardly laughed it off, catching Hoseok’s continuous look of concern still reining in his direction. “Don’t worry, Hobi.”  _A name he had seen be used in texts between the two._  “I’m fine. Just a bit stressed is all.” He seemed satisfied with this response and let out a grin once again. He ruffled Jungkook’s hair before walking off towards the shopping complex.  
“Come on. Let’s go spend all your hard earned money.” Jungkook laughed and followed the boy.  
“My favourite activity.”  
At least when it wasn’t really  _his_ money, at least.

Walking through one of the clothing stores, Jungkook carried a large stack of clothes. Most of these items were black or other monochromatic tones. A big difference from the rest of Jimin's wardrobe. The amount of thick hoodies and sweaters threatened to spill out of his arms. Almost doing so as he attempted to pick up a plain black t-shirt from a pile on the table. Hoseok watched him with caution in his eyes before turning back to a rail of clothes he had focused on before.  
“I thought you were saving up for a new computer?” His eyes looked up again waiting for a reaction,  
“Oh? What’s wrong with my current one?” Hoseok looked at the boy struggling to carry all his clothes, going over and taking a bunch from the pile in his arms.  
“How would I know? It’s your computer.” Jungkook caught himself slipping up again. If he was going to be in Park Jimin’s body, he had to at least pretend to be some version of him. They both continued looking through clothes, now a lot more comfortable.  
“Well… I figured I could wait a bit longer. I have a job so it’s not like I have to wait long.”  
“Yeah, except they’re not going to pay you if you don’t show up.” Jungkook stopped and made eye contact with Hoseok. There was a mutual understanding that it was a joke,but it also had a lot of truth to it. Jungkook went to Hoseok, taking his clothes back off of him.  
“I’m going to go try these on. Wait here.”  
“No. We have an arrangement.” Jungkook stopped in his step, turning around to face Hoseok again.  
“Arrangement?” He enquired.  
“You don’t remember?”  
“Must have slipped my mind.” Jungkook lied.  
“I can’t let you go in there alone, not after last summer.” Jungkook was silent. “After you…” He then switched to a softer tone to prevent other customers from hearing. “After you broke down in the changing stall and then abandoned me to go puke in the bathroom.” Jungkook was suddenly somehow paying more attention.  
“I- I threw up? Why?” His brows furrowed as he stepped closer to Hoseok, craving more information.  
“Dude, I know you don’t like acknowledging it but you can’t just pretend the last, what? 6 months? Never happened.” He harshly took a heapful of clothes from Jungkook again. “Now let’s go try these on, yeah?” Without waiting for a response he walked ahead claiming a room to be theirs.

He was hesitant at first. Sure Jungkook had been in the locker rooms at school. But even then he would be surrounded with so many people. And he always turned away, keeping his eyes to himself. But here? Alone with Hoseok? Who, Jungkook had to admit, was VERY attractive? It felt so… Intimate. He stuttered in his movements before taking his t-shirt off over his head. He looked at his reflection, part of him hoping this wouldn’t cause him to faint again. He swallowed a lump in his throat as he could see Hoseok behind him in the reflection removing his own shirt. Hoseok saw him staring at the mixture of both bodies, walking up to be directly behind him. He placed his head on Jungkook’s shoulder, arms on his shoulders comfortingly. He made eye contact with the boy through the mirror as he spoke. Jungkook could feel the skin of Hoseok’s chest pressed up against his back, heart rate increasing.  
“Don’t compare your body to mine. You-”  
“I’m not,” Jungkook stated. Hoseok moved his head, choosing to look directly at Jungkook.  
“That’s good… That’s really good, Jimin.” He placed his head back down and let his arms slide down Jungkook’s arms, hands intertwining with his. Pulling them up to clutch around Jungkook’s chest. “Something’s definitely up though… Are you going to faint again?”  
“No, no, I’m fine, I just…” He studied Jimin’s body. “It’s the perfect balance of masculinity and femininity… A strongness mixed with elegance. I… I like it…” Hoseok paused for a second, a soft smile growing on his face.  
“I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you say something positive about your body.” A soft pain and hints of sadness surged through Jungkook’s body. How could Jimin not see how effortlessly beautiful he was? It felt almost criminal to be able to stare at such pure beauty for so long without any repercussions.  
“Tomorrow…” Jungkook knew it’d sound weird but he couldn’t help himself. “Tomorrow I might not remember this moment…” Hoseok looked at the boy confused. “I want you to tell me how beautiful I am tomorrow. How I should never feel bad about my body because… Every single detail of this body is absolutely breathtaking.” Hoseok thought what was being said was strange. Why Jimin wouldn’t remember, he had no idea. But right now he needed to be there for his friend. The reason why didn’t matter.  
“Yeah… I’ll do that, Chim.”

 

Taehyung and Jimin were sat on the bed together. Sounds from Overwatch blasted through the high def speakers in Jungkook’s room. For a kid with seemingly no job, and slowly failing grades, Jungkook sure had a lot of cool equipment.  
“Oh my God, how are you failing so much right now? Weren’t you literally playing it all last night?” Jimin was trying hard to play, he really was, but he just didn’t know how to. He’d never played Overwatch before. Apparently this Jungkook guy was a freaking master at the game, though.  
“I was? That’s irresponsible.” He died for what seemed like the 400th time at this point, before respawning and trying again. Each time enhancing his skills ever so slightly.  
“Yeah, didn’t you say that your Mom had to come in to get you to turn it down? She couldn’t sleep because of the gunshots and you yelling whenever you  _did_  die.”  
 _Gunshots.  
_ Jimin lost his focus as he made the connection in his head. He earned another in-game death, letting his controller drop out of his hands and onto the bed softly. He slammed his hands down on the bed, letting a deep scream out as he pushed himself up and began pacing. “Woah, hey-”  
“WHY IS THIS HAPPENING!” Jimin felt like he was losing his mind. He couldn’t understand  _any_  of what was happening to him.  
“You’re probably just tired, or it might be an off day.”  
“NOT THAT!-” He gestured to the TV, “-THIS!” Then at his body. “I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT THE  _FUCK_ IS HAPPENING TO ME! WHY AM I HERE! WHY AM I HERE. IN THIS ROOM. WITH YOU. PLAYING SOME DUMB GAME!” He stared at Taehyung, expecting an answer despite the lack of knowledge on the situation. “What is the point of this?” He continued, sounding exhausted.  
“Do you want to just sit down for a moment?” Taehyung sounded kind. He wasn’t angry at the sudden outburst. He was… Caring. “Come on, sit down.” He patted the bed next to him. Jimin sat down beside him before tears started streaming down his face. He let his head fall into his hands, the sobs flowing out of him, comforting strokes on his back from Taehyung. Jimin turned around, throwing himself into Taehyung’s arms, forcing a hug from him. He cried into his shoulder, as Taehyung continued to rub soothing circles on the crying boys back.  
“I’m sorry I’m not who you want me to be…” His voice was small, barely audible. If it weren’t for him being right next to Taehyung’s ear, it wouldn’t have been heard at all. He sounded ashamed. Ashamed that he wasn’t really the best friend of the guy he was currently crying into the shoulder of. Taehyung pulled Jimin’s head away from his shoulder, holding his face in each face to look at him directly.  
“Hey. You are EXACTLY who I want you to be, okay? Because you’re YOU.”  
“I’m not though…”  
“Hey…” Taehyung wiped a tear that was rolling down Jimin’s cheek, looking sympathetically at the boy. “Would it help if I kissed you?” Jimin’s head shot up.  
“What?”  
“Would it help if I kissed you?” Jimin’s eyes blinked in shock. Was this the kind of relationship Jungkook and Taehyung had? Were they… Together? “I mean we don't have to, I just figured-”  
“No…” Jimin needed to pretend to be Jungkook, right? So he should… Kiss him… Right? “I… I want to.”  
“You sure?” Jimin nodded in response. “Okay.” They both remained still for a moment, neither knowing who should make the first move. Taehyung decided it should be him and moved his hand up to Jimin’s cheek, leaning in slowly. His eyes flickered between the pair of eyes and the lips in front of him, inching closer towards his face.  
Their lips connected.  
 _This is wrong._


	6. 6

 

 

6

 

“So why orange?”  
Hoseok was sat relaxed on Jimin’s bed, leaning back on his hand as he used the other to flick through a magazine. Jungkook was in the en-suite bathroom, his hair - Jimin’s hair - freshly damp from washing out the bright orange hair dye. Not an inch of regret on the boy’s face as he contaminated the elder's hair.  
“I want it to be… Shocking.”  _Jimin is going to kill him._ Music was playing through Hoseok’s phone. A playlist that Jungkook had put on, which contained a lot of lesser known artists. As a new song was beginning to play, another tone overshadowed the music. Jimin’s phone had begun ringing. Jungkook walked out of the bathroom, with the plastic gloves still on, hair damp from washing out the dye. He peered at the phone screen facing upwards on the bed. “So Yeona…” Hoseok jolted at this, sitting upright.  
“Dude, you need to answer that.” Jungkook’s eyes widened at the urgent tone in Hoseok’s voice.  
“Why?”  
“Because she’s still pissed at you.” He grabbed the phone, pressing answer and pushing it to Jungkook’s ear forcing him to respond. He panicked, pulling off the plastic gloves to hold the phone for himself.  
“I’m surprised you picked up.” She sounded blunt and fed up.  
 _What the hell has Jimin left me to deal with.  
_ “Uh, yeah, me too.”  
“Put it on speakerphone! Put it on speakerphone!” Hoseok whisper-shouted. Jungkook stumbled with the mobile device for a second, not used to the design or interface. He put it on speakerphone, holding it out for them both to listen to this girl speak.  
“I’m guessing you’re done looking at gay porn then?” Jungkook froze.  _What. The. Fuck. Had. Jimin. Left. Him. With._  Hoseok looked at him, shocked expression, leaving Jungkook to only shrug in response. “I know you  _say_  it was just out of curiosity but I don’t buy it for a second. If you’re gay, just fucking tell me. I’m sick of falling for guys who treat me like I’m their whole world only for them to cheat on me with some closeted jock.” Jungkook held his mouth open, unsure of how to respond, looking to Hoseok to help. Jungkook covered the microphone area and whispered.  
“Am I gay?”  
“How the  _fuck_  would I know if  _you_  don’t know?!” He removed his hand from the phone and coughed before speaking.  
“I don’t… Think? I am? At least not to my knowledge?”  
“Really? So you’re trying to tell me you and Hoseok haven’t hooked up at least once?” Jungkook looked at Hoseok in panic, Hoseok grabbing the phone and responding instead.  
“Uh, hi, Hoseok here. I can confirm that we haven’t ever ‘hooked up’ as you so eloquently put it, uhh… Have I dreamt about it? Sure. But it never happened in real life, so I wouldn’t worry your cute little head about it, okay?”  _Jungkook sure was learning a lot today.  
_ “Why the fuck is Hoseok there? And what do you mean you’ve  _dreamt_  about it, you sicko!”  
“Okay, admittedly I probably shouldn’t have mentioned that, uhh-” Jungkook grabbed the phone back.  _Just act straight. Act straight. You did it before, you can do it again.  
_ “I’m not... Gay. I like boobs. And… Uh… Vagina…”  _Okay, that was terrible._  He turned to Hoseok again whispering, “I’m not good at this!” Hoseok ripped the phone out of Jungkook’s grip once more.  
“Can we call you back?”  
“No, I-”  
“Kay, thanks, bye” Hoseok hung up and looked at Jungkook. “Okay, what the fuck?” Jungkook chuckled nervously, avoiding eye contact. “Jimin?”  
“Yes.” He sounded too certain in his response. Instead of sounding like a natural response, it sounded like he had recalled his name instead.  _This was harder than he thought.  
_ "You told me you weren't into guys... Did that change?"  
"Uh, no. No, of course not." Jungkook didn't sound convincing at all. Hoseok couldn't help but start looking at the boys lips. He could tell he was lying. Jungkook’s heart increased in speed, whether out of excitement or out of fear, he couldn't tell.  _How the fuck do you turn down a super hot guy from kissing you, to convince him that you’re not gay. Even though you most definitely are, but you’re currently in someone else’s body, that someone being STRAIGHT? Fuck. Jimin’s straight. Why did that hurt Jungkook a bit?  
_ Hoseok, without warning, leaned in on his knees to grab Jungkook by the chin and kiss him deeply. He couldn’t resist the way his body melted into the touch.  _Fuck fuck fuck._  Hoseok pulled away for a second, before leaning back in again. Jungkook moving to accommodate the close proximity of them both. They kissed hard, passion flowing through every movement. Hands wandering over skin sending shivers down Jungkook’s spine.  _You shouldn’t be doing this._  Jungkook let a moan escape his mouth, instantly regretting it, but being too caught up in Hoseok’s movements to stop. The sound only made Hoseok more intense, eyes burning with lust into Jungkook’s soul.  _He doesn’t know you’re not really Jimin._  Hoseok’s lips travelled down to Jungkook’s neck.  _He thinks you’re Jimin._ Another moan.  _You’re not Jimin._  Hoseok’s hand wandered down.  _You’re not Jimin!_ He palmed on the growing bulge in the boys pants.  
 _HE’S NOT JIMIN!  
_ Jungkook pushed Hoseok away suddenly, moving himself further back away. “Sorry, I.. I can’t. I…”  
“No, no. I get it.”  
“No, you don’t. You  _really_ don’t.” He avoided making eye contact with the boy who was moments ago attacking his neck.  
“Jimin, I- I just thought-”  
“I have to go.” Jungkook quickly grabbed his bag, exiting the room.  
“This is your house! I-!” The door slammed shut. Jungkook no longer in the room. Hoseok fell back down onto the bed, sighing out loud.  
Well he certainly didn’t pull away this time…

Jungkook walked briskly down the street. The sky was a deep blue, with stars ever so slightly present above but mostly clouded by the chemicals settled in the air. The cold wind was blowing Jungkook’s hair back, Jimin’s face on full show. Little puffs of air became visible whenever he breathed, displaying out into the world how cold he was. A group of men were up ahead. Some wearing black suits. Some more casually dressed, donning sweatpants and hoodies.  
“You lost?” Jungkook looked up, one of the suited men catching his attention.  
“Uh, no thanks, I’m fine. Just going out for a walk.” He went to cross the road but as he started making his way across, the men followed the same action.  
He couldn’t escape this situation.  
“Bit late for you to be wandering out here by yourself. A pretty face like yours is just calling for danger.”  
“I said I’m fine, just leave me alone.” All he could do was try and make it past them. Approaching closer, the men started looking a bit more closely at the boy. Hair still damp. Hickey evident on his neck. And not enough clothes for the current temperature.  
“What’s that on your neck?”  
“What?”  
“You just got back from having a little bit of fun?” Jungkook had reached where they stood and tried to push past them, “Hey I’m asking you a question, slut.” Jungkook clenched his jaw, resisting every urge to go wild and beat the shit out of this guy. He became trapped by all the men lined up, building a human wall in front of him. “You know…” He looked Jungkook up and down, taking in every aspect of Jimin’s body, and licked his lips. “I’d like to have a bit of fun as well.” Like  _hell_ if Jungkook was going to let this happen to Jimin’s body.  
“Yeah. And I’d like to get the fuck pass you. Could you  _please_ just move.” The man squared up to Jungkook’s face and pushed him down onto his knees by his shoulders.  
“How about you shut the fuck up and put those dick sucking lips to good use, yeah princess?”  
“He’s not. Your fucking. PRINCESS!” He pushed himself up smashing his head into the elder man’s chin, knocking him back. He ran in the opposite direction as fast as he could, the men following close behind. After about five minutes, they gave up, having run out of breath. Jungkook continued to run, adrenaline pumping through his blood as he slammed his way back into Jimin’s house. He ran back upstairs, praying to God that Hoseok was still there. He ran into the room to find Hoseok packing up his stuff about to leave. He ran to him forcing a hug out of the confused man, arms slowly wrapping around Jungkook in response. Tears were falling. Hard.  
“Woah, hey, hey, what happened?”  
“I’m going to fucking kill them.”  
“Who? Jimin, what happened?”  
“They tried to... “ He took a moment to think.  
“They tried to what?”  
“Nothing. It doesn’t matter. Can you just stay here the night?”  
"Yeah... Sure..."  
 _He doesn’t have to know.  
_ _What he doesn’t know.  
_ _Can’t hurt him._


	7. 7

_7_

 

 _Home sweet home.  
_Jimin was back in his room. Back in his  _body._ The familiar surroundings sending relief through his body and a smile on his face. He got out of bed, stretching his arms out, sighing upon remembering the events of yesterday. He  _kissed_ Taehyung. He had to though, right? If he didn’t kiss him, then he’s be upset with Jungkook. That’s why he did it. It wasn’t because he was attractive. Or because they were so close and intimate at the time. Or because Jimin was emotional. No, of course not. It was simply strategic. Or at least that’s what Jimin told himself.  
He got out of bed and walked over to the mirror, wanting to see his own face once again. His mouth dropping open when he saw the reflection looking back at him. His hair was a bright vibrant orange and there was a clear hickey on his neck.  _Had Jungkook hooked up with Yeona?_  He stared at the image in front of him, a mixture of horror, embarrassment, and most of all fury, flowing through his veins. He looked around for a piece of paper and saw an unused spiral notebook he got at the start of the year, grabbing it and opening it to the first page. He took a pen from his desk and began scribbling down a message angrily on the first page, finally breaking the seal of purity.

 _‘What the fuck is wrong with you? You dyed my hair ORANGE?!?!?!_  
_And did you hook up with my girlfriend???!!! That is NOT OKAY!!!!_  
_YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO TOUCH MY GIRLFRIEND,_  
_YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SKIP WORK,_  
_YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO TALK TO MY DAD,_  
_AND YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED_  
_TO DYE MY HAIR_  
_FUCKING ORANGE!!!!!!!!!_  
_I swear to God,_  
_Jeon Jungkook, you’re going to be the death of me.  
_ _\- Jimin’_

“You’re awake.” Jimin jumped at the sound, dropping the notebook in the process. Hoseok had just come out of Jimin’s ensuite bathroom, toothbrush at work in his mouth. Jimin immediately scrambled to pick up the, now that he looked over it, mildly embarrassing note. “You alright?” Hoseok continued. Jimin nodded in response as he held the book close to his chest. He didn't want to risk his friend seeing it and asking questions. Hoseok held up his finger to signify that he wanted Jimin to wait a moment, then finished brushing his teeth. He spat out the remaining toothpaste mush from his mouth, running the utensil under the tap, before finally tapping it on the side to remove any excess water. He came back into the room, hesitating before speaking. “We should talk about last night.” Jimin placed the notebook down on his desk as he noticed the serious tone in Hoseok’s voice.  
“Why? What happened last night?”  _Shit. Shouldn’t have said that.  
_“You’re right. Maybe it’s better we just forget it happened.” He went over to the bed, letting himself fall onto it, relaxing his entire body. Jimin looked back to the note he had written and added to it.

 _‘P.S. I want detailed logs of everything you do as me from now on._  
_It’s too suspicious if I don’t remember anything.  
_ _I’ll do the same for you.’_

He hesitated for a moment before adding further.

_‘P.P.S. Fuck you, I’m dying my hair back.’_

It had been several hours since Jimin had woken up and Hoseok hadn’t left his side since. They travelled to the dance studio, thankful that the teacher allowed them to go in on the weekends. They were apparently trustworthy enough to not need supervision, thank God. Rehearsing for the upcoming dance show was their priority.

Music was blasting through the speakers, Jimin controlling the music while Hoseok danced. Then switching after a few run throughs.  
It had reached a point where both boys were getting worn out. Hoseok finished his routine with little to no mistakes, satisfied with his performance and wanting to finally sit down again. Allowing Jimin to take the floor and go through his set pieces again. The track began playing once Jimin was in position, and his flowing moves came shortly after. Hoseok watched the boy dance, elegance oozing out of him with each twist and turn. Jimin's eyes were full of determination and critique, constantly feeling as though the silhouette of each movement wasn’t holding up well enough compared to his peers. He tried to push through, not focusing too much on everything wrong with his form. Instead trying to focus on everything that was going right. He was getting the choreography correct. He… He was getting the choreography correct.  _Fuck._  He couldn’t think of anything else. He'd notice each little flick of the wrist that was slightly off beat. Or every time he had his arm the tiniest bit out of place. Such small discrepancies made him feel like he wasn’t worth the praise he got. That he wasn’t worth to even be in this show let alone get potentially recognised for his so called ‘talent’ because of it. He stopped mid-way through the choreography, bending over, hands on knees. His face showing a mixture of pain disappointment, and exhaustion.  
“Can we stop? Just for a moment, I need to…” He breathed heavily and Hoseok turned off the music, making his way over to Jimin.  
“Do you want to sit down for a bit?” He put his hand on Jimin’s shoulder, empathy evident on his face.  
“I’m never going to get it right…”  
“What are you talking about? You did it perfectly?”  
“No… No I didn’t.” Jimin looked up at himself in the mirror, Hoseok then following his gaze. “I’m never going to be good enough.”  
“What are you talking about, you did amazing. We’ll just try again and-”  
“NO!” Jimin snapped. “You don’t understand!” He began pacing as he spoke, tears forming in his eyes but none falling. “This is my  _dream_ we’re talking about, okay? All I’ve ever wanted is to perform for people and go to Seoul Institute of the Arts! But if I’m not  _perfect_  for this show then I won’t get scouted, and then I’ll have NO CHANCE of that ever happening! I can’t risk this, Hoseok! At this point it just feels like I might as well give up. I’m never going to get better…”  
Hoseok remembered Jimin’s words from the day before.  
_Tomorrow… Tomorrow I might not remember this moment… I want you to tell me how beautiful I am tomorrow.  
_“Jimin?” He made eye contact in response. “Don’t discourage yourself… Your dancing’s beautiful… Just like you...” Jimin turned to look at Hoseok directly before shaking his head slightly.  
“Hobi, we talked about this…” Jimin walked off to the side to grab his water bottle and drink from it.  
“Talked about what?”  
“This!” He indicated towards the both of them. “Us! I’m not- We’re not-”  
“Then what the fuck was yesterday?”  
“What are you on about?!”  
“Are you really  _that_  fucking in denial?!” Jimin furrowed his brows as the boys looked at eachother.  
“In denial about what?” Hoseok walked up to Jimin, getting close to his face, centimeters away.  
“About being fucking gay, Jimin.”  
“I’m not gay. Don’t try and force that on me because you can’t handle being just friends.”  
“THEN WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT YESTERDAY?!” Hoseok shoved Jimin away from him.  _Did he know about Taehyung? No. How would he?_ “YOU CAN’T DO THAT TO ME! YOU KNOW HOW I FUCKING FEEL AND YOU TOOK ADVANTAGE OF THAT!” Hoseok continued.  
“I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT!” Hoseok got close to the younger again, gripping his sweatshirt and pulling him even closer, fear finding its way through Jimin’s body.  
“I’m fine with being friends, Jimin… What I’m  _not_ fine with. Is you leading me on, and making me think your feelings have changed.” He let go of the material. “Besides… You were the one who told me to fucking call you beautiful. That you’re fucking the epitome of beauty or whatever the fuck it was.” Hoseok grabbed his bag, slipping his water bottle back into the net pocket on the side. “God, I swear you are the fucking weirdest sometimes. You act like you hate yourself one second, then the next you act like you’re in god damn love with yourself. You say you’re not interested, and then you’re all over me.” He walked over to the door, about to leave before looking back once again. “Just make up your Goddamn mind, dude. Stick to one fucking personality”  
The door slammed leaving Jimin alone with his thoughts.  
_What the fuck did Jungkook do?_

 

The kitchen was quiet as Jungkook and his Mother sat in each others company. Jungkook with his bowl of cereal, slowly eating it's contents. And his Mother with her newspaper in hand, eyes darting across the page in an attempt to find a more captivating story. Jungkook couldn’t help but stare at the woman’s subtle movements, question on the tip of his tongue, tempting to spill. His Mother could sense the wide eyes of her son on her and finally looked up to meet them.  
“What is it?”  
“Hm?” Jungkook snapped out of his thoughts, his Mother’s sudden question, catching him off guard.  
“You’re staring, honey.” His Mother stated,  
“Right, yeah, no I-”  
“Is something wrong?” Jungkook hesitated giving a response, but before he could stop himself, he had to ask,  
“If you switched bodies with someone for a day, what would you do?” His Mother paused, a puzzled look on her face before folding up her newspaper and responding.  
“Well, I suppose it would depend on who’s body I’m switching with.”  
“Okay… Say they had the same job as you, and uh... They were in the same city as you. The only real differences were your personalities, friends, family, and stuff like that…”  
“I’m... Really not sure honey. Why do you ask?” Jungkook froze unsure of how to answer, unexpected words spilling out of his mouth.  
“What if you did something in that person’s body that then affects their relationships…”  
“Honey, what on  _Earth_  are you talking about? Is this a story you’re writing or something?”  
“Uh, yeah… Something like that…" They resumed their silence from before, Jungkook slowly eating his cereal again. His Mother could see that he wasn’t entirely happy. His usual casual yet energetic charisma had disappeared. And instead replaced itself with endless staring into a bowl of mostly milk. His mind clearly miles away.  
“How’d things go with Taehyung yesterday?” She asked.  
_Shit. Taehyung came round yesterday._  
“Uh… Yeah, good. Great actually.”  
“Really? Then why’d he leave crying?” Jungkook’s head shot up.  
“Uh, sad movie.”  
"Is that why I heard yelling as well?"  
"Is it okay if I finish this upstairs? I have a test tomorrow and want to fit in as much studying as I can.” He didn't know what happened. It was easier to divert the question altogether. He really needed to call Taehyung.  
“You? Studying?” Her eyes were wide with shock, a smile growing on her face. “By all means, go ahead.”  
“Thanks.” He quickly got up, grabbing his bowl, and ran up the stairs, careful not to spill any.

As soon as Jungkook entered his room, he put down the bowl and practically jumped onto his bed. He let his body relax while he pulled out his phone, sighing over what he was going to say. He found Taehyung’s contact and stared at it for a while.  
_“Hey Taehyung, just wanted to say I’m sorry for… Whatever it is I did?” No that sounds like you don’t mean it. “Hey, I’m so sorry for what happened yesterday. Do you think we can move past it and pretend it never happened?” That’s if it’s something that can even be moved past. Ugh, this is so stressful.  
_He tapped the call button waiting for a response.  _Just go with what comes naturally._  The call picked up but no voice could be heard.  
“Hyung?” Jungkook spoke. A small sound of confirmation was the only reply he got.  
“Mm.”  
“Are you okay?” He continued.  
“Mm.”  
“Tae. Talk to me… Please.”  
“Why?” His voice sounded quiet, and almost… Ashamed?  
“Because I want to fix this.”  _Whatever this is.  
_“No. Why did you do it?”  _Do what?_  Jungkook widened his eyes, dumbfounded. He couldn’t answer because he simply didn’t know the answer.  
“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you, I-”  
“That’s not an answer.”  _Shit._  
“I really didn’t want to hurt you Tae…” He was so fucked and he didn’t even know why.  
“Well you did… What made you change your mind?”  
“Change my mind on what?”  
“On us.” Of course Jimin being in Jungkook’s body was going to complicate this. How couldn’t it? Jungkook and Taehyung had been… Something, for as long as the two could remember. They had practically grown up side by side. There was a gap where they were apart but when they started going to the same school together they met again and everything just clicked. They became inseparable all over again. So when Jungkook came out as gay to the older boy, and his only response was “Me too.” it was inevitable that something would eventually happen between the two. One drunken kiss, that lead to two drunken kisses. Ending up in sober touches and biting of the lips that would never dare to be known by anyone else. It was an unspoken rule between the two that they would kiss and touch and do whatever they wanted with each other, but they would never be in a relationship. Until a week ago when Jungkook confessed.

Jungkook hovered above Taehyung, lips pulling apart from his, and a whispered confession finally came out.  
_“I think I like you… Tae. Like… Really really like you…”  
__“I like you too Jungkook.”_

 _“No. I mean… I want us to be more than friends. I mean we basically already are but-”  
_ _“I want that too.”_

They were meant to have an in depth conversation about what would happen next with them. Whether they were now officially boyfriends, and if so, who would they tell, if anyone at all? Then Jimin happened. Jimin happened and everything got… Confusing. The last thing that was on Jungkook’s mind was his and his best friends potential relationship status. It seemed now that he was confronted with it though.  
All thanks to Jimin.  
_Stupid, straight Jimin.  
_“Woah woah, no no no no no. Whatever I said, I didn’t mean it, Tae. I-”  
“No, I get it. We’re friends we shouldn’t compromise that-”  _For fuck sake, Jimin.  
_“No, listen Tae. I… I like you. I really do.”  
“That’s not what you said yesterday.”  
“Yeah, well I wasn’t myself yesterday.” Jungkook let out a loud sigh. Part of him wanted to tell Taehyung everything. That,  _no, you don’t understand. It literally wasn’t me who said whatever I said._ “Can you please come over so we can talk about this properly?” Taehyung hesitated before responding, the silence killing Jungkook slowly.  
“Yeah um… Later tonight though. My Mom’s not doing so well right now.”  
“Wait, why? What happened?”  
“Just…” A loud sigh came through the phone. “The anniversary is coming up soon.”  
“Aren’t anniversaries meant to be a good thing?” Jungkook let out a chuckle.  
“No, the uh… Brother anniversary...”  
“Oh.” The tone had somehow gotten more tense and upsetting. “I-I’m sorry, I forgot, I-”  
“It’s fine. I wouldn’t expect you to remember. I don’t exactly like to bring it up.” They sat in silence, Taehyung’s breathing still being audible on the end of the phone.  
“Okay, just uh… Come over whenever you can, yeah?”  
“Yeah…”  
“Purple you.” Jungkook practically whispered, earning a sad chuckle from Taehyung.  
“Purple you too.”

 

Jimin arrived back at home, Father still nowhere in sight, but in his place was Jung Hoseok sat on his couch. He stood up as Jimin shut the door, turning and seeing Hoseok waiting for him.  
“How the fuck did you get in?” His tone was harsh, and he clearly wasn’t happy to see Hoseok again, the tension still high from the events of earlier.  
“Your Dad let me in.”  
“Yeah, right.”  
“No, really. I caught him just as he was leaving.”  
“I’m surprised he came home at all.” Jimin grumpily dropped his bag into the floor, shortly folding his arms afterwards. “What do you want?”  
“I wanted to say I’m sorry.”  
“Yeah, well, apology not accepted.” He started walking up the stairs, Hoseok calling after him to stop.  
“Jimin, please-“ He stopped, and turned around, face blank and emotionless yet a hint of anger in his eyes.  
“Get out of my house.”  
“I’m not going to let this fuck up our friendship!”  
“Oh, really?!” Jimin stormed back down the stairs, “because I thought you made it pretty clear that I already fucked it up by  _leading you on_.”  
“Well you were!”  
“We have a mutual agreement!” He stepped closer to Hoseok, trying to emphasise his words. “We’re close but we don’t cross any boundaries! That’s how it’s always been!”  
“Well you were the one who broke those boundaries!”  
“Fucking when?!”  
“Yesterday, when you kissed me!” Jimin stopped in his tracks.  
“I, what?”  
“Well…  _I_ kissed  _you_ , but you kissed back! And you were REALLY into it!” Jimin’s anger wasn’t settling down any time soon. Despite his desire to yell back, a knock on the door interrupted the conversation. Both boys turned their heads to the door, then back at each other as they non-verbally conveyed confusion, neither knowing who it could be.  
“JIMIN, I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE.”  _Yeona._ Hoseok’s confusion stopped but, Jimin’s confusion only increased further.  _Why is Yeona here? And why does she sound so angry?_ He opened the door and was immediately shoved back by a furious Yeona who began yelling.  
“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT YESTERDAY?!”  
“W-what?”  
“I TRUSTED YOU, I GAVE YOU MY EVERYTHING AND NOW I FIND OUT THAT YOU’RE FUCKING GAY AND EVEN WORSE YOU’RE LYING ABOUT IT!”  
“Woah woah, nononono.” He tried to get closer to Yeona, arms stretched out to try and gently grab her shoulders and calm her down. She refused to comply, instead shoving him again, throwing him off his balance. Only then was it that she noticed Hoseok standing in shock, watching the whole event play out.  
“What the hell is he still doing here?” She pointed at Hoseok accusingly, and then her eyes travelled down to Jimin’s neck. “Oh my God. Are you serious?!” Jimin looked around confused again.  
“S-serious about what?”  
“Your neck.” Jimin’s hand went up to his neck, assuming she meant the hickey placed upon it rather than just his neck in general. “We have  _one fight_ , and your first instinct is to hook up with  _him?!_ ”  
“Wait, this wasn’t you?” Jimin pointed at the hickey as well.  
“Don’t act dumb! God! I am so SICK of guys LYING TO ME!” She paced around a little, before stopping, looking directly at Jimin, eyes piercing. “You know what?” She angrily took of a ring from her finger, a promise ring given to her by Jimin after a year of dating. Throwing it at Jimin as she spoke. “Lose my number. And never speak to me again. We’re fucking done.” She turned around, and stormed out, the door, slamming it loudly. Leaving Jimin and Hoseok in silence to think about what the hell just happened.  
Jimin had finally realised what had happened.  
The hickey wasn’t from Yeona.  
It was Hoseok.  
Jungkook is gay.  
And made him kiss his best friend.  
_Fuck._


	8. 8

 

 

8

 

 

Jungkook laid on his bed, phone in hand. His headphones plugged in, and Youtube open on a compilation of CS: Go commentary clips. The video ended and Jungkook turned onto his side, phone still clutched in his hand. He tapped on the search bar and resisted before giving in and typing in the name.  
 _Park Jimin  
_ Of course, all that came up were various videos related to celebrities of the same name. He tapped in the search bar again and added  _dance_  onto the end. Again some celebrities showed up, mainly fancams of idols. But among all those, on the fourth page, laid a video titled  _Park Jimin Dance Showcase Performance_. He could recognise the boys silhouette in the thumbnail, and clicked the second he saw it. Watching closely and intently as the announcer called out.  
 _“Next up is Park Jimin with Skin by Rihanna.”_ The boy came out, blue and pink lights hitting the stage, giving an atmospheric glow to Jimin as he positioned himself center stage. Five other male students came out, walking around in an artistic formation as they wrapped silk ribbons around the boys torso, arms, and one around his eyes acting as a blindfold. Even before the dance officially started, they were already performing. Turning what could be a simple dance into an art piece instead. The five men held onto the ribbon ends, acting as though they were restricting Jimin’s movements, as the music came up. Both the men and Jimin moved in time to the bass at the start. His limbs acting as though they were being pulled and he was trying to escape. He eventually pulled the two arm ribbons from out of the other dancers hands. The two around his torso getting pulled away gracefully by the dancers as they exited the stage. One leaving on each side creating a display of symmetry. The one holding the blindfold-imitating ribbon released his grip and left through the back to keep the matching design on each side in tact. The ribbons around his arms helped keep the elegance in his moves. Whenever he moved his arms around, they were subtly made loose by Jimin. As he was mid spin, they flew off, his hands then running through his hair, locking in place to the beat as he moved. His hands ended up on the blindfold, pulling it off in one swift movement on a bass note that reverberated as the song came to an end. He stared out into the audience. His breathing was heavy and a smile appeared on his face at the applause that occured. Seeing Jimin’s smile made Jungkook smile in return. The video ended and him left in awe, desperate to find more videos of the boy dancing. Never had he seen a performance like that, especially not by someone who was still a  _student_. Maybe one day he’d get to see Jimin live… He sure hoped so.  
“Jungkook! It’s for you!” His Mother called up the stairs, grabbing his attention.  _Must be Taehyung._  He practically ran down the stairs, wanting to see the boy as soon as physically possible. Only stopping when he reached the bottom of the stairs and saw the look on his face. He looked hurt. Jungkook’s Mother could sense the tension in the room.  
“I’ll leave you two to talk. Nice seeing you again, Taehyung.” She smiled softly before leaving. Even though technically she was still in the same room as them, no door separating the living room and kitchen.  
“Um… Do you want to go upstairs?” Jungkook asked somewhat shyly. Taehyung looked over to Jungkook’s Mom. She was trying to look busy but it was obvious part of her was still audibly tuned in to their voices.  
“Yeah, I think that’d be best.”

The boys arrived in Jungkook’s room, casually stepping over the mess. They immediately sat on the bed, both facing forward instead of at each other.  
“I like you. I really,  _really_ like you, Taehyung. Like… A lot… And I’m really  _really_ bad at words…” Taehyung looked down to his hands, playing with the rings on his fingers. “I’m really bad at feelings in general… Yesterday… Yesterday, I just freaked out, okay? I- I panicked, in the moment and didn’t know if I could… Commit.”  
“But?” Taehyung looked at Jungkook and their eyes met. Everything in Jungkook wanted to say  _“But, I can. And I want to.”_ But if this switching with Jimin was going to be a usual thing… Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea. What came next was going to hurt like a bitch.  
“But… There is… No but.” Taehyung looked back down, emotions slowly taking over but him resisting it as much as he could. “I want to be with you… I really do…”  
“Now there’s a but.”  
“But... I think now’s maybe not a good time.” Taehyung shifted so that he was sitting with his legs crossed, hands now picking at a loose thread on his jeans.  
“Are we still going to like… Kiss… And stuff?” He looked at Jungkook, face clearly showing how awkward that was for him to ask.  
“Sometimes… Um… There might be days that I don’t want to though… I’m just. I’m going through a lot right now and I don’t always want the touchy close stuff, or maybe I do, but… I don’t really know, I-”  
“How about. From now on. You initiate everything.” Taehyung had seemed to pull himself together. “If you go in for a kiss then we kiss, and if you don’t, we won’t.” Jungkook nodded.  
“That could work, yeah.” He smiled softly, and then an idea came into his head. “Or. We could do it so, either I initiate it, or you ask me first. If I say no then just don’t take it personally, and if I say yes… Then go for it, um… And maybe take it slower than usual if I say yes. Unless I take charge or just tell you otherwise.”  
“Okay, I can do that… Yeah.” They looked at each other for a moment, before Jungkook let out a little chuckle.  
“God, our friendship is so weird.”  
“Yeah it is. But I like it that way.” Taehyung nudged Jungkook’s shoulder gently as he said that, and they both smiled.  
“Smash bros?”  
“Hell yeah.” They did their special handshake as Taehyung got up to go set up the Nintendo Switch. Jungkook’s eyes darted around the room. He spotted a piece of homework he never finished or handed in and approached it, turning it over and grabbing a pencil. Messily scrawling on the back of it.

_‘Hey Jimin, so uh… I should explain a few things to you.  
_ _I’m guessing you may be experiencing a bit of conflict on your own end as I write this, but you messed up a pretty crucial part of my life as well so… I guess we’re even?  
_ _Either way, I’m guessing from both experiences, you’ve probably figured something out about me.  
_ _I’m… Gay.  
_ _If you didn’t realise that then… Well, this just got awkward. Sorry.  
_ _Basically me and Taehyung, we aren’t in a relationship, but we also kind of are? Like… Platonically? It’s kind of complicated. But basically we’re just very close friends who sometimes do things that normal friends wouldn’t, I guess… It’s just what works best for us. I wanted to become his boyfriend but you being the picture kind of complicates that, so we’re just sticking to our weird friendship with kisses type thing.  
_ _I’ve arranged a situation with him so that you don’t have to do any of that stuff. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable and I really don’t want you confusing Taehyung again.  
_ _Basically from now on, I, or I guess we? Initiate physical stuff, or he asks first. When he asks, YOU DON’T HAVE TO SAY YES._   _I don’t want you to feel pressured at all. He won’t take it personally, I’ve told him that I’m just going through a lot right now… Which I guess isn’t even a lie, haha. But also… You don’t have to say no. When you’re in my body, it’s also your body, and you should be allowed to do with it as you please. I just ask that if you do any of that sort of stuff, it isn’t with anyone other than Taehyung. Or hell, I mean if you happen to meet Hoseok while in my body go ahead, I’m chill with that as well.  
_ _Sorry, that was probably weird to say, wasn’t it?  
_ _I’m going to leave some money on the side and I want you to get clothes and whatever you need for when you’re in my body. You may have noticed that I kind of went crazy as you and spent your PC money… Sorry about that by the way.  
_ _Um… Please don’t do anything to my hair as revenge… Please?  
_ _Okay uh… Taehyung’s staring at me weirdly now, so I’m going to stop writing this… Okay…  
_ _Bye.  
_ _Why is this so awkward to end ashksdhlfd.  
_ _Yes I just keyboard smashed irl, fight me. - JK’_

Jungkook finished writing and put the paper on his desk face down. Scribbling a massive ‘JM’ onto the homework-covered side.  
“You done?”  
“Yeah.” He laughed awkwardly. “I told my Mom I started studying and I just wanted something to make it look like I actually was” He laughed again. Taehyung handed him a controller, a soft smile on his face.  
“Winner gets a kiss?”

 

Jimin was in the bathroom, sponge in hand as he dabbed on his neck attempting to cover up the hickey from the night before. He didn’t want to see it anymore. And if his Dad came back and saw it, that’d be one hell of a conversation. Especially with Hoseok being the one in the house with him rather than his now  _ex_ -girlfriend.  
“So you really don’t remember?” Hoseok was laying on Jimin’s bed, turning to face the direction of Jimin’s ensuite. He could see a hint of the boy through the crack in the door left open for them to speak.  
“I don’t.”  
“Have you been to the doctor about it?”  
“I don’t need to go to the doctor. I know why I don’t remember it.” Hoseok waited for Jimin to continue but he never did.  
“Care to share with the rest of the class?” He laughed.  
“It’s… Personal. I doubt you’d believe me anyway.” He continued to dab at the spot on his neck. He looked over his work deciding it was the best he was going to be able to do, and began packing away his tools.  
“Is it to do with when you passed out in the dance studio? Should I be worried?” Jimin came out of the bathroom and joined Hoseok on the bed. He laid down beside him, causing Hoseok to turn so they could face each other.  
“No. You don’t need to be worried.” He sighed. They were close together and for Jimin it felt normal, no different than before. But for Hoseok it was slightly uncomfortable. After the events of the day before, all he could think about was kissing Jimin again. He shifted his eyes around, trying to avoid eye contact, which Jimin noticed almost immediately. “Are things weird between us now?” Hoseok didn’t speak. “Because I don’t want them to be.”  
“No, they’re not weird. I just… I’d be lying if it didn’t hurt that you don’t remember our first kiss.”  
“Our  _only_  kiss.”  
“Yes, our only kiss, whatever. It was still our first…” He looked hurt more than anything, and Jimin didn’t know what to do to make him feel better. His method of comfort was always through touch. “I know we’re never going to be anything more than friends but…” He swallowed. “I really felt something when we kissed. And I think you felt something too. It just sucks that you don’t even remember it now.”  
“What if we kiss again now?”  
“What?”  
“Don’t interpret it as anything more, just… If we kiss now, I’ll be able to remember it, yes? And maybe it could help you get all your feelings out, and it’ll be like a reset… Or something…” Jimin didn’t even really know what he was saying at this point. He’d already kissed a guy. Why not kiss another, right? No big deal. Not. A big. Deal.  
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to Jimin.”  
“I enjoyed it yesterday, right? Maybe I’ll enjoy it again.”  
“Okay.” Jimin looked at Hoseok’s lips but didn’t make a move, nerves getting more and more evident in his eyes. “We don’t have to if you don't want to, Jimin.” Hoseok whispered.  
“No, I… I want to.” He sighed. “I want to.” Hoseok nodded and Jimin leant towards him, lips finally connecting to Hoseok’s. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t enjoying it. Hoseok’s hands slid onto Jimin’s lower back, extremely gentle and soft against Jimin’s skin, a small shudder coming from Jimin as a response. His lips parted for a second and Hoseok thought he wanted to stop and pulled away his hands quickly. Jimin stared at Hoseok for a second, before grabbing his hands and placing them firmly back onto his body. Jimin leant in again, kissing the boy a lot harsher than before, body moving against Hoseok’s, grinding down on him ever so slightly. Hoseok’s hands moved to Jimin’s hips, guiding him to move even more against him, pressing down in just the right spot to get Hoseok heated.  
Small whines filled the air as Hoseok bit and pulled against Jimin’s lip, hands moving further down to Jimin’s torso. Tracing light patterns against his skin, making Jimin squirm in pleasure and desperation. Kissing down to his neck and making another mark to match the first, a moan escaping the younger's lips. Hoseok stopped at the sound, his voice like music to his ears. He breathed heavily against Jimin’s neck before pulling away and looking him in the eyes.  
“Jimin… We can’t do this.”  
“W-Why not? Did I… Do something… Wrong?” His voice sounded small and insecure.  
“You’re not doing anything wrong. If anything, you’re doing everything right, but… You literally just got mad at me because you’re specifically  _not gay_ … Yet now we’re… Here.” Jimin sat up, pulling his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them, and shrugging in response. “Jimin…” Hoseok sat up and they made eye contact again. “How much further were we going to go? Like… What would you have done if we had sex? It would have been your first time with a guy and... I’ll be real when I say that I don’t think you’re ready…” Jimin stayed curled up against himself, hiding his face behind his knees. “It’s good to explore your sexuality. But you shouldn’t just… Jump into anything. You know?” Jimin let out a small nod. “Jimin…” He sighed. “I don’t want to just be… An experiment, or whatever. I’m actually into you and I don’t want you to get my hopes up and one day decide, ‘nope, I’m definitely straight, let’s never do that again,’ because that’s going to hurt me.” Jimin pulled at his sleeve, looking down before agreeing.  
“You’re right… Can you stay tonight though? Please...”  
“Jimin, I already stayed last night, my Mom’s going to start asking questions if I’m not home again.” Jimin nodded, picking at his nails, avoiding eye contact. “I think if we spend the night apart, it means we can start fresh tomorrow. New day, new week. I don’t want things to be weird between us, alright?” Hoseok continued.  
“Okay. I understand.”  
“Okay...” The two stared at each other in silence. “See you tomorrow then.”  
“Yeah… See you tomorrow.” Jimin’s voice was quiet and Hoseok nodded awkwardly before leaving the room. The sound of the front door closing a short while after. Jimin didn’t even want to think about what just happened. He didn’t want to think about his feelings. And most of all he didn’t want to think about Jungkook.  
So why was he what immediately came to mind?


	9. 9

 

 

9

 

 

The drone of the teacher’s voice reverberated through the air as her back was facing the class. Writing getting marked onto the board as she spoke.  
“However, motivation is a complex psychological process which-.” The teacher continued as Jungkook sneaked his way into the class. He sat himself in the seat of the shared desk with Namjoon, trusting his friend to hopefully catch him up to speed.  
“Hey.” Jungkook whispered, his voice sounding somewhat harsh compared to the soft tones of the teacher’s.  
“You’re late.” Namjoon responded, his eyes staying glued to both the board and his notes.  
“Yeah, no shit.” He adjusted in his seat, putting down his backpack and pulling out a notebook from it. He caught a glimpse of Namjoon’s notes as he came back up. “Can you catch me up?” Namjoon turned to answer when the teacher faced the class and interrupted their conversation.  
“Jeon Jungkook.” Jungkook looked up at her in response. “I see you finally decided to show up.” She continued. “Glad to see you’re back to your old habits.” She sighed before turning back to the board as Jungkook let a hint of guilt shadow onto his face. The boy fell silent for a moment before his lack of focus took over and he turned to Namjoon once more.  
“Hey, you changed to Mr. Ryo's class, didn’t you?”  
“Yeah.” Namjoon didn’t look up back at Jungkook when responding, instead electing to keep the majority of his attention on the teacher.  
“So, you have a free period after lunch?”  
“Yeah, why?”  
“Do you want to go shopping with me?” At this, Namjoon looked over, confusion evident.  
“Sure. I guess. Why? What do you need to get?” He put his pen down, all his attention now on the boy beside him.  
“I um… I did something kind of stupid and want to get a gift to apologise.”  
“Tae said you two sorted things out.”  
“Oh yeah, it’s um… It’s for someone else...” Jungkook swallowed and bit his lip hoping for no further questions. Namjoon opened his mouth and widened his eyes as if to ask a question, but remained quiet. As far as Namjoon knew, Jungkook didn’t have anyone else outside of him and Taehyung. Overhearing the pair of voices chatting away, the teacher had turned her focus towards the two.  
“Maybe you boys would like to go first?” She folded her arms as she looked at the two, waiting for them to answer. Jungkook looked up, eyes wide, and unsure of what was meant by the question. “With your ‘Goals and Aspirations’ assignment I set?” The two looked at each other, Namjoon looking a lot calmer compared to a mildly panicking Jungkook. Namjoon stood up.  
“I’ll go first.” He smiled and gathered a set of papers from his desk. He made his way to the front of the class, clearing his voice before looking to the teacher for permission to speak. She nodded in response and he focused his mind, almost as if about to put on a performance. “I, as far fetched as it may sound, one day hope to be the president of the United States."

 

Jimin sat at his desk, attention pulled away from the teacher. A piece of paper capturing his focus instead.

_Things I want to achieve:  
_ _1\. Get into Seoul Institute of the Arts  
_ _2\. Be part of a big dance show (outside of school)  
_ _3\. Go to Japan  
_ _4\. Write and produce a song  
_ _5\. Learn how to play the guitar_

He hesitated before adding an additional point.

_6\. Meet Jungkook_

He looked at his writing for a moment before feeling a presence beside him.  
“Jin suggested we switch things up and I partner with you, while he partners with Hoseok. You cool with that?” Yoongi looked at Jimin who had shaken his thoughts away and brought himself back to reality.  _Right. Lab partners.  
_ “Yeah. More than fine.” Jimin chuckled somewhat sadly to himself. Part of him was relieved that he didn’t have to face Hoseok again so soon, but another part was upset that he didn’t even have the chance to make things normal between them again.  
“So, things  _are_  weird between you two?”  
“What? No. We’re fine…” He couldn’t hide the evident lie on his face and Yoongi glared back in a stubborn stance, showing that he wouldn’t give up that easily. “Okay, things are weird. Something happened, but it’s fine. Well, it’s not fine, but I don’t want to talk about it.” Yoongi simply nodded in response before bringing Jimin’s anxious tone down to a serious one.  
“Okay. Well… Remember I’m here if you  _do_  want to talk.” Jimin let out a soft nod followed by a smile laced with sadness.  
“I know.” He looked at Yoongi who had turned his gaze down towards his notebook, page excessively blank. He bumped his shoulder against the boy’s playfully, a bright grin emerging on both faces shortly after. The only difference was that Yoongi’s faded a lot sooner than expected.  
“Jimin…” The atmosphere had gotten serious again. “How come we’re not as close as we used to be?” Jimin’s eyes widened at the question, completely unprepared to tackle the subject at that current point in time. “Like, I know people sometimes just drift apart but... It was around the same time your Mom died, and I can’t help but think that I did or said something which initially pushed you away…” He continued.  
“No, God no, It was nothing like that, I just…” He paused for thought. “When my Mom died... Things were a lot to handle, and I don’t know... I guess Hoseok was there for me a lot at the time. He understood what I was going through, with him having lost his Dad…” He began doodling aimlessly on the corner of his open page. “I don’t know. I guess it’s not so much that I drifted away from you. But more that I drifted closer to him…” His voice had faded quieter and quieter the more he spoke, almost as if ashamed of the words emitting from him. The two sat in silence for a while as the remnants of their conversation lingered in their minds.  
Yoongi looked at the bright head of hair on top of Jimin’s head, before allowing his gaze to fall to the boys face again.  
“How’d the dream thing go by the way?”  
“Uh…” He stuttered for a moment, an internal battle taking place whether to lie or tell the truth.  _If I told the truth, would he even believe me?_  “Wouldn’t know. Didn’t have another dream like it.” Yoongi nodded to himself upon hearing the answer.  
“That sucks. At least it means it was only a one time thing though, right?” Before Jimin could reply, the large drilling sound of the bell dismissing lessons ripped through the air and into their eardrums. Students began packing away their things, Yoongi joining in with the unifying action. He grabbed his bag once it was full, slinging it over his shoulder before laying his eyes on Jimin’s hair once again. “Cool hair by the way. Suits you.” He ruffled a hand through the boy’s hair before leaving the classroom, not leaving space for a response. Jimin packed away his pens and notebook before glancing at his phone to see what he had next.  
 _Dance._

A few minutes late, taking time to change into his dance clothes beforehand, Jimin entered the dance studio. His class was in the middle of stretching and responding to the register. His name entering the air as he had entered the room, a simple “Here.” being called out from his lips as he made his way to join Hoseok and Seokjin. He couldn’t help but avoid eye contact as they all began stretching together. Seokjin took the majority of the conversation space upon himself to fill. As much as Jimin didn’t want it to feel awkward, it did. Hoseok hardly said a word as he focused on his stretching, wanting to get all thoughts related to Jimin out of his mind.  _So this is how things are going to be from now on, huh?_  Jimin thought to himself.  _Great. As if today wasn’t already terrible._  The class worked on all the large groups performances. Adding choreography and discussing the technical elements for the show, as well as rehearsing and finessing already complete pieces. It was a blessing that Jimin and Hoseok didn’t have to work on their duo performance.  
 _“I don’t want things to be different between us, alright?”  
_ Hoseok’s words rung in Jimin’s mind.  
 _Then why does it feel different?_

 

Since it was around noon on a weekday, the stores weren’t that full compared to normal. Namjoon and Jungkook walked through the almost empty isles. Various toys, food, and stationary items surrounding them. One specific large white metal crate filled to the brim with soft toys caught Namjoon’s eye. He delicately plunged his hand into the soft mass, pulling out a round yellow animal plush. The felt tongue peeking out of it’s mouth as a separate piece of material. He looked at the plush before letting his gaze wonder to Jungkook, who was looking at a pot of pens more seriously than the usual person would.  
“So…” Namjoon started. “Your new tutor.”  
“What about him?” Jungkook replied, still engrossed in the various pens staring at him.  
“Is he the one you’re getting a gift for?” Jungkook broke the staring contest with the pens, looking towards Namjoon instead.  
“No? Why would it be?”  
“Well, it wouldn’t be the first time you’ve developed a crush on a tutor.” A smirk started to crawl it’s way onto Namjoon’s face as he looked at Jungkook with teasing in his eyes. Jungkook rolled his eyes.  
“Okay, listen. You were the first guy I had ever spent that much time with since I realised I was gay, alright? Of  _course_  I was gonna fall for you.”  
“Little Jungkookie had a crush~” He sang. He held the plush up to his chin, acting extra cute to further make fun of the younger boy. He put the plush back down and the two walked a bit farther through the store before Namjoon spoke up again. “To be fair, you were impossible to teach. It was probably a good thing you made a move on me so I had an excuse to quit.”  
“Hey, I wasn’t  _that_  bad.” The two laughed. “God, my Mom was so confused when you quit.”  
“Yeah… Probably because I told her to find someone less attractive to teach you.”  
“Less attra- Wow, way to boost your own ego!”  
“You boosted it first by trying to kiss me!”  
“I was young, okay!” They laughed some more at the ridiculousness of how they met. It was amazing that they somehow managed to become friends after all that.  
“If it’s not for your tutor, who is it for then? You said it was an apology?” Jungkook began looking at the rows of sketchbooks and charcoal pencils. Picking one of the ring bound books up as he hesitated to answer.  
“It’s just… Someone new.”  
“Should I be jealous?” Namjoon raised his eyebrows jokingly. Jungkook looked back at the older male.  
“You’re lucky this sketchbooks expensive, or I’d be hitting you with it right now.” Namjoon walked over to the boy and looked at all the various art supplies in the aisle they were in.  
“Okay, well whoever this person is… Are they actually into art at all, or have you just gotten distracted?” Namjoon crossed his arms as Jungkook glanced back to the sketchbook in his hand.  
“Maybe I got a  _bit_ distracted.” He put the book back down before sighing upon realising that he had absolutely no clue what to get Jimin. Admittingly he didn’t  _have_  to get the boy a gift, by any means. The two seemed to be okay as of now, but Jungkook still felt bad for how he had treated Jimin’s life when forced to live it. This was just an extra way for him to say ‘I’m sorry’, that’s all. It definitely wasn’t a secret desire to shower the boy in gifts and try to tell him how amazing he is. Of course not. That’d be ridiculous.  
“What sort of things does this person like, then?”  
“Um… Uh, dance… Uh…” Jungkook stumbled to think. “He likes dance.”  
“Okay, well that’s a start.”  
“Yeah, but he doesn’t wear like sports clothes or anything because he’s insecure about his body. Which is absolutely ridiculous, might I add, because his body is amazing.” Namjoon chuckled softly to himself.  
“I’m sure you’ll find something.” Namjoon put his hand on Jungkook’s shoulder comfortingly. Then walking off to look at the home decor section nearby, leaving Jungkook to walk after him at his own pace. As Jungkook walked behind Namjoon, a pop of color caught the corner of his eye. He backtracked slightly to see it in full view. A journal with a design containing a line going across the front diagonally, was now rested in his hands. On one side of the line, a watercolour image of a dancer with an unfolded fan. The paint tapered of in fiery flicks, adding a heat and emphasis to the image. On the other side, a watercolor hooded figure sat at a computer with coffee stain patterns in vibrant colors of watercolor around him. It summed the two up harmoniously.  
“It’s perfect.”

 

The chatter as students talked throughout the lunch period had increased over the course of the hour. Each individual slowly getting louder and louder, trying hard to hear each other over the rest of the hall. Seokjin, in particular, had been rambling on for the past ten minutes non-stop. He had been talking about his Mother and her new business she had begun setting up. Being impressed that it was completely separate from his Father’s company.  
“She’s even using a fake name so that no one makes the connection, it’s quite impressive to be honest. I never thought she’d put herself out there like that but, people surprise you I guess.” He kept talking in between shovelling in mouthfuls of food, making the best use of his time. After a few minutes of this talk, Jimin had begun to zone out. His mind becoming completely numb to everything going on around him. Slowly fading into a fuzzy interpretation of the events unfolding before him. “She’s not even setting up an official website or anything, just a small Etsy shop. She’s really doing everything herself, and I-”  
“WILL YOU SHUT UP ABOUT YOUR MOM ALREADY!”  
Jimin had finally snapped.  
He breathed heavily, almost in shock at the words that came out, almost involuntarily.  _Shit._  “Not everyone wants to hear about how  _amazing_ your Mother is okay? ” He tried to calm himself down, but the words kept pouring out, his mouth having a mind of its own. “Some of us don’t even have Moms to compare to yours anymore. Some of us don’t want to GODDAMN HEAR about ALL THE LOVE AND ATTENTION you get from YOUR MOTHER!” He slammed his hands on the table as people stared at him, his group falling silent.  _Shit. Shit. Shit._  His eyes darted around for a second, before standing up in a panic and walking away without another word. Seokjin looked at Hoseok. He tilted his head slightly in the direction that Jimin left, indicating that he should go and talk to him. Instead of getting up and following the boy however, Hoseok instead shook his head and looked down, choosing to focus on his food instead. He looked at Yoongi for a second, before seeing that he was in a similar zoned out state as Jimin had been before. He decided that he should just go himself, packing his stuff up and chasing after the long-gone dancer.

After searching various classrooms and hallways, Seokjin finally stumbled across Jimin. He had been sat against the lockers with his head down and knees to his chest. Sighing in a mixture of relief and exhaustion, Seokjin slid himself down the wall, sitting next to the younger. Jimin looked up confused as to the new presence beside him, but, upon seeing Seokjin, let his head fall back down.  
 _Of course it isn’t Hoseok.  
_ Seokjin looked at the younger and immediately went to his default response in these situations.  
“God, you could fill an ocean with those tears of yours. You’re going to need an ark at this rate.” He paused for effect. “Luckily for you, I Noah guy.” He waited for laughter from the younger yet nothing came. Time for round two. “Hey, how about we go bowling together? You know, I really like bowling. It’s  _right_  up my alley.” He paused after but received no reaction again. “I don’t like German sausages though. They’re just the wurst.” At this Jimin’s head lifted once more but with no positive expression found on his face.  
“Why are you even here?” His face had become stained with tears and his eyes looked empty and lifeless as he stared aimlessly into the space near Seokjin’s head. Seokjin leaned back letting his head rest against the lockers behind them.  
“Because you’re upset. And I worry about you.” He turned his head towards Jimin. “What happened out there?” Jimin hesitated answering for a moment, before the words were slipping out of his mouth.  
“It would have been my Mom’s birthday today.” He said as he looked down to his hands now visibly playing with the sleeves of his blazer. “Hearing about your Mom, it just… I don’t know. It got to me, I guess.”  
“I understand that.” Seokjin responded quickly with an empathetic tone laced in his voice. This caused Jimin to look at him directly, slight disgust on his face.  
“How the fuck would you understand that? Your family’s perfect.” He practically spat in anger.  
“Actually. It’s not.” Seokjin made direct eye contact with Jimin, stern expression clear on his face. “Joowon’s not my real Dad.” Jimin’s face changed at the new information. “My real Dad left when I was eleven. He told my Mom that he didn’t love her anymore and left overnight. Never said goodbye. Never said anything, he just… Poof. Gone.” Jimin’s heart was beating fast. He never knew any of this in the several years of knowing Seokjin. “Whenever anyone mentions their Dad… I get a sudden ping of sadness. I mean my stepdads great, I guess, but I don’t know… I guess I just never got that closure with my real Dad. Or even any real reason to hate him and be glad he left, you know? Like, he was a great guy. He was the best Dad I could ask for. And sure, he didn’t die but… I mean, he might as well be dead because I haven’t heard from him since. What’s even the difference from my perspective?”  
“I didn’t know that...”  
“It’s not exactly something I advertise. I’m not exactly… Big… On talking about emotions and what not.”  
“Why is that?” Jimin asked.  
“Why be sad when you can be happy, right? Most problems are small anyway, like whatever’s going on between you and Hoseok? I presume that’s small, right?” Jimin didn’t respond, almost trying to ignore the situation all together. “Why don’t you just talk to him? I’m sure whatever it is can be sorted out.”  
“No. It can’t.”  
“What even happened with you two?”  
“I… I don’t even know. Everything just got… Complicated. And-and messy. It just all got so fucked up... I just miss when things were simpler, you know?” Jimin sighed.  
“Yeah… I know.” Seokjin said as he put his hand on Jimin’s shoulder. “Just talk to him about it, yeah?”  
“Yeah.”

Finally arriving at home after a long day of studying, Jimin finally had a chance to sit down. He had spent several hours in the library, studying for all his subjects. He had spent so much time focusing on dance that he had unintentionally left all other subjects out. There was a high chance that he wouldn’t get chosen by the scouts from Seoul Institute of the Arts. So, he still needed to get good grades as a backup.  
He took off his shoes and set his bag on the ground as he went inside it to find his now empty water bottle. His journey to the sink was interrupted by a note on the counter from his Father. Clear instructions telling Jimin to get new groceries. He sighed before picking the note up and folding it into his pocket and putting his shoes on once again.  
 _Back into the cold, I guess._

As the familiar cold hit his face, he walked with his hands pressed tightly into his pockets. His shoulders hunched up slightly as an obvious pink tint had overtaken his nose and cheeks. He sped up as an attempt to get out of the cold as soon as possible. A loud “HEY!” from across the street caught his attention. He ignored it, assuming it was probably just a group of loud drunk men together, and continued walking.  
“REMEMBER US, PRINCESS!?” Jimin froze and realized he had to make a decision. If these guys were about to attack some innocent girl then he should go and stop them. But he also didn't want to risk getting caught up in a fight with them. He continued walking as he heard the snickering coming from the group fade into the distance. He felt bad, but fear had gotten the best of him, and he didn’t want to do anything to get himself hurt.  
It was better to play it safe.  
Right?

 


	10. 10

 

 

10

 

Jungkook’s eyes fluttered open to the view of the now familiar glow in the dark stars. He was back at Jimin’s. He felt absolutely exhausted, more than usual when he’d wake up as Jimin. He stood up, despite his tiredness, and lazily got dressed, thankful that it was a Sunday so he didn’t have to deal with Jimin’s job. He went over to the dresser and caught a glimpse of a letter on the side for him. He read the note and quickly grabbed a pen to respond.

_‘I… I didn’t know you had a girlfriend… Sorry…_  
_But I want to make it clear that I never touched her!_  
_But I’m guessing you know about what actually happened by now?_  
_I hope you read my note I left for you and that it clears some things up…  
_ _I’m really sorry. I hope it didn’t complicate things too much?’_

He didn’t know what else to add so left it that way, with the intention to add to it later once the day had progressed. Since it was a Sunday, there were no responsibilities Jungkook had to carry out. He looked around the room for something to do and noticed the PC in the corner of the room. He tilted his head remembering that it was apparently broken. He approached the machine, powering it up and trying to see what the issue was. Immediately upon starting, a hard drive error came up on the screen. It was an obvious fix and Jungkook knew exactly how to solve the issue. He went over to the note again and added onto it.

_‘Hey, I think I know what’s wrong with your computer._  
_To make up for spending the money you were going to use to get a new one, I’ll fix it for you._  
_It does mean I’ll have to use your money to get a new hard drive_  
_but I promise I’ll give you the money if we ever meet up or anything.  
_ _Or I can just post it through your letterbox if you’d prefer.’_

He walked over to the mirror in Jimin’s room and stared at the reflection for a while. Jimin was truly beautiful and it drove Jungkook insane that he couldn’t see it for himself. How could someone so gorgeous and talented be so insecure? It didn’t make sense to Jungkook. He stared into Jimin’s eyes, emotions washing over him as he got lost in the never ending stars hidden behind the irises. He reached out his hand to touch the mirror and as he did flickers of his own reflection flashed across his eyes.

 

“Jungkook?” Jimin’s hand came off the mirror. What just happened? For a second it was as if he could feel Jungkook looking back at him. Emotions that weren’t his own flooded his system. He quickly became overwhelmed, stepping away from the mirror.  
“Jungkook-ah!” The sound of Jungkook’s Mother rang from downstairs. “Is this yours? If so, you left it down here!” Jimin exited Jungkook’s room, meeting his Mother on the steps. She was holding a plastic bag, the contents unknown to Jimin.  
“Uh, yeah. I guess it is. Thanks.” He bowed quickly before taking the bag and running back upstairs. He looked into the bag, pulling out a notebook and looking at the cover. His fingers brushed over the cover lightly, completely mesmerised by the design. He opened up the first page, a note left in clear view.

_‘I’m really sorry. For everything._  
_I saw this and thought of you._  
_I was hoping we could use it to talk to each other and to keep logs of_  
_my days so neither of us get confused haha.  
_ _Again. I’m really sorry. - JK’_

He searched for a pen and wrote  _‘I forgive you’_  with a smiley face. He smiled softly to himself and put the book on Jungkook's desk. There was already so much bad going on in Jimin’s life. He figured it was easier to forgive and move on. On the desk, a piece of paper lay with ‘JM’ written messily on it. He picked it up, turning it around to see a note from Jungkook. He starting reading it intently and came to the conclusion that Jungkook was sweet. Didn’t make anything hurt less though. He put the paper down, sighing before looking at the mess around him. Jungkook was always so messy. He began tidying the room, picking clothes off the floor before crouching down and spotting something under the bed. He pulled out what looked like a diary, and considered whether he should open it or not. Eventually letting curiosity take the better of him as he opened it up.

_‘I never thought I’d spend my thirteenth birthday crying alone on my bedroom floor._  
_But here I am._  
_Who would have guessed that I’d be the final straw to push my dad away for good?  
_ _I feel like such a disappointment.’_

Jimin knew that it was wrong to be reading this. It was an invasion at privacy, but at this point, it felt as if there was no privacy between the two. He continued reading. He had to.

_‘But i get it._  
_How would anyone love me after finding out?_  
_I’m a freak of nature, a disgusting monster that needs to be put down._  
_My existence is a gross mistake that does nothing but ruin peoples lives._  
_I already ruined my Mom’s life by being born and now I’ve ruined it further by being gay._  
_Why did i have to be this way?_  
_I should have just pretended a little bit longer…_  
_I’m definitely not telling my Mom now._  
_I think I’d break for good if she left me as well.  
_ _Fake it till you make it, right?’_

_Fake it till you make it…_  The fact that Jungkook was thinking that way from such a young age, shocked Jimin. It made sense though. He’d be a hypocrite if he said it wasn’t normal for kids to think negatively about themselves. Jimin would be lying if he said he didn’t miss Jungkook. Which didn’t even make sense. He hadn’t actually  _met_  him. Yet his heart… His heart yearned for him.  _Fake it till you make it._  Is that what Jimin had been doing this whole time? He put the diary down and stood up, walking to the mirror again.  
“Why do I miss you? I hardly even know you… Why is it that…” He put his hand on his heart, feeling the increase in tempo. “Why does my heart beat like crazy whenever I see your face looking back at me?” He moved his hand to touch the mirror. “Why is it that-“

…

Why is it that Jimin was back in his own room? With his own reflection looking back at him. His lip, now restored to its natural thickness, began to tremble.  _Why couldn’t you stay? Just for a little bit longer…_  He smashed his fist against the mirror, shards shattering to the ground and blood seeping it’s way through his skin. “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING TO ME?!” He screamed into the broken frame. His eyes welled up and he clutched his hand which was now throbbing in pain. A loud sound crashed through the room as Jimin’s Dad burst open his door and came into view. He looked drunk. Really drunk. Which was never good news.  
“What the fuck are you screaming about?” His tone was bitter and full of spite. He looked to the mirror, Jimin’s gaze following in panic. “Did you break the fucking mirror?”  
“I- I-”  
“I paid for that mirror, you asshole!”  
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-” Jimin got cut off by the sound of his Father throwing a bottle against the wall. Fear trembling through the young boys bloodstream.  
“Stand up,” His Father commanded. Jimin hesitated. “I SAID STAND UP!” Jimin clambered to his feet, stumbling ever so slightly. His Father walked up to him, face-to-face. “Am I a joke to you?”  
“No-”  
“Then why the FUCK do you treat me like one?!” Jimin fumed with rage. This wasn’t how his final year at school was meant to go. Not. One. Bit.  
“Maybe because you used to be top of the force. Maybe because you spend all your time day drinking. MAYBE BECAUSE YOU DON’T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT YOUR ONLY SON-” A violent force to the middle on Jimin’s face interrupted him. He tumbled to the ground, his Father not reacting to punching his son. Instead only walking away and leaving the house once more. Jimin’s face hurt. It hurt a lot.

 

“Oh, what the fuck?!” Jungkook exclaimed. His nose had started dripping with blood, making him leap out of bed to grab a handful of tissues. “What the actual fuck?” Sounds of the doorbell followed by chatter echoed from downstairs as he sat back down, trying to control the bleeding.  
“Oh! Namjoon! What a surprise. I hardly see you around anymore,” Jungkook’s Mother exclaimed.  
“I’m doing good, yeah. Is it okay if I come in? Jungkook said he wanted to speak to me about something?”  
“Oh, of course. Let me go tell him you’re here.” As she turned towards the stairs, Jungkook had begun to walk down them himself.  
“Woah, are you okay?” Namjoon gasped upon seeing blood-covered tissues held to his face.  
“Honey, what happened? Are you alright?” His Mother joined in.  
“Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.” He turned to Namjoon. “Can we talk outside?”  
“Outside?”  
“Yeah, I just need some fresh air.” He turned to his Mom as he turned to leave the house. “See you in a bit, Mom.”  
“Okay honey, be safe.” The two boys left the building to walk along a pathway close to Jungkook’s house. They walked at a slow pace as Jungkook continued to hold the tissue to his nose.  
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Namjoon asked again, earning a confused look from Jungkook. Namjoon gestured to his nose to give clarification as to what he meant.  
“Oh. Right. Yeah, it’s fine. Just a random nosebleed is all.”  
“Okay…” They continued to walk slowly, silence taking over for a while. Jungkook decided he needed to just come out with it.  
“Namjoon…” Namjoon turned to face him.  
“Yeah?” Jungkook took a deep breath.  
“I need to tell you something.”

 

Jimin heard the front door slam shut and made his way downstairs to get a dustpan and brush. Having so much glass laying on the floor was most definitely a hazard, and he was already in pain. It’d be even worse if he ended up stepping in glass as well. He reached the kitchen and opened the cupboard under the sink. He pulled out a dustpan and brush, before beginning to head up the stairs again. A loud sound coming from upstairs made him stop in his tracks. Did his Dad not leave after all? He went up the stairs cautiously, looking around and trying to remain quiet. His footsteps creaked on the landing as he gently opened his bedroom door, peering inside. All air was then cut off, the dustpan and brush dropping from his hands. A plastic bag was placed over his head, a stranger's arms wrapping around his body to prevent movement. A zip tie was placed around his throat over the bag, tightening it roughly. He screamed and struggled against the body behind him, kicking into the air in an attempt to make the attacker lose his balance. His mouth opened from inside the plastic, trying to get any oxygen into his system but none could be found.

Jungkook stopped in his tracks.  
“Do you hear that?”

Jimin managed to crawl out of the captors arms, running away and trying to remove the bag. Before he could figure out how to remove it, a large pair of arms tightened it further. Coughs escaping from his mouth.

“No? What?”  
“It sounds like screaming…”

Jimin couldn’t help the roars of desperation that came out. He was in a choke hold and saw no way of getting out.  _Is this really the end?_  His throat felt tight and his eyes welled up, tears slowly dripping down his face.  _I don’t want to die._

“Anyway, you knew?” Jungkook continued.  
“I had a rough idea. Ever since you mentioned that dream-” Jungkook began pulling at the hem of his shirt.  
“Is it just me or does it feel really stuffy out here?”  
“I think it’s just you. Are you feeling alright?”

Jimin’s mind went blank as his vision became clouded by a fog of white. His body felt numb and he could hear a ringing sound emerging in his ears as his head felt lighter and lighter.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just-” Jungkook began coughing violently, interrupting himself. He clutched to his throat and fell to the floor, Namjoon crouching down to his side.  
“Woah, dude. You okay?” Jungkook couldn’t speak. It felt as if he couldn’t breathe and everything was tight, as if hands were pressed around his windpipe. “Jungkook?” Namjoon’s voice trembled. “JUNGKOOK!”

Jungkook’s eyes opened, the same pain from before suffocating him. He reached to the arms around his throat and kicked behind, escaping the stranger’s grip when he loosened his arms from shock. He saw a pair of scissors on Jimin’s desk, running over to them and cutting the top of the bag off to create a large hole for him to breathe through. The stranger marched towards him and Jungkook held the scissors up as a weapon. He’d seen this man before… But from where? Before the man could reach Jungkook, he stabbed the scissors into his arm, leaving them there as he ran around him. He clambered down the stairs, leaping out of the door as fast as humanly possible. Running immediately, the second he got outside. Jimin’s house got further and further away as Jungkook ran, destination unknown. He paused part-way, realising where he recognised the man from. He was one of the men that tried to attack him when he was in Jimin’s body before. He looked around, seeing that he had lost the man, and reached for the broken bag still around his head. He tore the rest of the bag open from the gap he made before, the zip tie having to remain around his neck for now, no matter how tight and uncomfortable. He found himself beginning to run towards his own house. He figured he could go to Namjoon and Jimin and try to explain the whole situation. He didn’t want Jimin to feel ashamed, but it put his life at risk. He needed to know.  
He reached the pathway where he had collapsed before switching, but couldn't see Namjoon or Jimin anywhere.  
“NAMJOON!” He called out for them. “JIMIN! JOON!” No response. He jogged to find his house and knocked on the front door. They probably went inside, and if not then maybe his Mom knew where they went. After no response, he knocked again, this time more desperate. The door finally opened but not by Jungkook’s Mom. An older woman with tattoos along her neck, and multiple rings on her fingers stood instead.  
“Hello. Are you alright?” She asked, concern clear in her voice.  
“But… Mrs Han, you…” Jungkook felt out of breath.  
“What’s wrong young man?” The world around him began to warp.  
“But you’re...”  
 _Dead._

 


	11. 11

 

 

11

 

 

The hallway was buzzing with students as they all changed classes. Jungkook joined the crowd as he finished putting his books into his bag. Namjoon saw the boy from far away and joined to be at his side.  
“Jimin seems nice,” he made Jungkook jump with his sudden appearance.  
“You spoke to him? Like… Properly?”  
“Yeah he seemed pretty confused and scared. Figured it wasn’t you anymore.”  
“So he knows that you know now?”  
“Yeah,” Namjoon answered. “Jimin said someone was trying to kill him… Do you know anything about that?”  
“Yeah, uh. I had to fight the guy off.”  
“Holy shit. Are you okay?”  
“I’m more worried about Jimin, to be honest.” Jungkook ran his hand through his hair stressed.  
“Wait, why? Is he in trouble or something?”  
“Can we talk about it in private?” Jungkook asked as he looked around.  
“Uh, yeah sure.” Jungkook pulled Namjoon into an empty classroom, before sitting on one of the desks.

“Dude, what the hell’s going on?” Namjoon asked. Jungkook took a deep breath in before letting the words come out.  
“A few weeks ago, a group of guys tried to attack Jimin. Well, me in Jimin’s body. I fought them off and… I’m guessing they didn’t exactly like that.” Namjoon’s face turned into an ‘o’ shape. They were in high school, this kind of thing wasn’t meant to happen to them, right? “Hyung… They were trying to rape him… I couldn’t just stand there and let it happen. You realise that, right?”  
“Yeah… I understand.”  
“I didn’t even care about myself in that moment. I didn’t care that I would be the one experiencing it. I just kept thinking about… What if we suddenly switched again and Jimin had to experience it? Or- Or just the fact that it was Jimin’s body and he wasn’t even there to say no, I-” Tears started to fall from Jungkook’s eyes and Namjoon made his way over to the boy, sitting down next to him.  
“Think about it this way… You stopped it from happening, right?” Namjoon began. “And you switched when he was in danger, and stopped him from getting hurt again… Maybe that’s why you’re switching?”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Maybe you’re meant to protect him. Keep him out of harm's way.”  
“Maybe…”  
“By the way, I’m pretty sure there’s a class here in 5 minutes. We should probably get out.” Namjoon got up from where he sat, holding his hand out for Jungkook to take.  
“Oh, right, sure,” Jungkook muttered. He took Namjoon’s hand, getting up, them leaving the room together.

“If I’m honest, I think Jimin’s a good influence on you.”  
“What?” Jungkook chuckled.  
“Well, he does his homework, and yours, he has a job. Seems like you could learn a thing or two from him,” Namjoon stated.  
“Haha, very funny.” The two continued walking until they saw Taehyung standing at one of the many glass cases that stood in the school. “Is that Taehyung?”  
“I think so.” They walked up to the boy and noticed the seriousness on his face. It was rare when Taehyung would be like this in school. He was usually the smiling beam of light, there to comfort you if you’re having a bad day. But today… He looked upset.  
“Tae?” His eyes were glued to the case in front of him, fixated on the memorial section. A collection of photos and names displayed themselves. Honoring their lives after a school shooting that had happened three years ago.  
“You alright, buddy?” Namjoon placed his hand on Taehyung’s shoulder, jolting him back into reality.  
“Uh, yeah... “ He hesitated. “I just... I can’t help but think about my brother…” He started. “Did you know he was ill that day? He tried to convince our Mom not to make him go to school but she insisted... I don't think shes ever refused me a sick day since,” He chuckled to himself lightly, sadness coating the tone of it. “I’m so lucky I wasn’t there to see it happen. I can’t imagine what it’d be like to actually see him die…” Taehyung saw a reflection in the glass, causing him to turn around. He looked at the man that caught his attention. His hood covering his head and hands hidden inside his pocket. “I’d probably have ended up like him...” Jungkook looked to see who Taehyung was referring to. Eyes landing on the hooded figure rushing his way through the halls.  
“Who is that guy?” Jungkook asked.  
“Min Yoongi. He was there when it happened,” Namjoon stated.  
“He’s one of the few people that actually survived. Apparently lost all his friends in the shooting. He hasn’t been the same since... People say he took a year out of school to be in a mental hospital but I don’t know how true that is,” Taehyung added. Jungkook stared at the boy as he sped down the corridor, making eye contact briefly before the elder diverted his gaze.  _He was there? God, that must be painful…_  Jungkook looked back to the list of victims and froze upon seeing one of the photos, with the name in clear print below it.  
_Park Jimin._


	12. 12

 

 

12

 

 

“I was thinking that maybe we could meet up? I’d understand if you didn’t want to but uh… I hope you’ll show up? I’ll be waiting for you,” Jimin giggled at the end of the message, rustling playing before the recording came to a stop. Jungkook threw his phone down onto the bed in frustration. It would have been easier for Jungkook to deal with if Jimin had just written a note. Instead he had recorded a voice message on his phone, every hesitation and giggle audible and able to melt Jungkook’s heart. He let out a deep sigh.  
“This doesn’t make any sense…” The doorbell rang making Jungkook jump. He ran out of his room, to see his Mother opening the door for Namjoon.  
“Namjoon! You’re back again! What a nice surprise,” She smiled. Namjoon looked up to Jungkook hovering on the stairs.  
“We need to talk,” Namjoon pointed at Jungkook who nodded in response, before running up the stairs. Jungkook’s Mother looked on in confusion as the boys ran off without explanation, closing the door to continue with her day.  
“You saw it as well, didn’t you?” Namjoon asked, closing the door.  
“I did.” Jungkook’s eyes wandered towards the ground, clearly lost in thought. Namjoon’s face softened as he saw how the situation was affecting the boy.  
“Maybe… Maybe you knew about his death and it’s a… Dissociative Identity Disorder type thing? Mixed with… Hallucinations?”  
“No. It’s real, I know it is.” Jungkook sighed.  
“Jungkook… You can’t be switching places with a dead guy…” Jungkook clenched his jaw and looked directly at Namjoon.  
“I can if I’m also going back in time,” He said sternly. Namjoon’s eyebrows furrowed.  
“What do you mean?” Jungkook hesitated.  
“There was a situation. After the whole… Bag attack thing.”  
“What kind of situation?”  
“I ran to try and find you and Jimin. But you weren’t there.”  
“Okay, so?”  
“I then went to my front door and knocked. I figured maybe my Mom was still inside and I could try to explain everything to her and get her to understand it was me.”  
“And…?” Namjoon pushed.  
“The door opened and… The old owner, Mrs. Han, was there… We got the house after she died.” The disbelief on Namjoon’s face slowly morphed into confusion and a clear attempt to understand the situation at hand. “The shooting happened the night of a dance show, right?”  
“Yeah?”  
“I think it’s the same dance show Jimin’s been practicing for.” Jungkook swallowed a lump in his throat as he tried to hold back tears as everything dawned on him. “I think he’s going to die soon.” His voice began trembling, higher tones sneaking into his sentences as his breathing became uneven. “I can’t lose him Namjoon. I just can’t. It’s as if… It’s as if there’s some weird connection between us that I can’t even  _attempt_  to understand, but… I don’t know what I’d do if he slipped away from me so easily...” Namjoon went over to the boy and hugged him tight, refusing to let go.  
“Hey. You’re not in this alone. Okay?” Namjoon spoke in a hushed tone. “We’re all here for you.” The pair stayed like that for a long time. Tears and soothing whispers of comfort filling the air as the two held each other tightly.

 

Music blasted over the speakers for what felt like the hundredth time. The continuous melody reverberating in Jimin’s brain as he mindlessly repeated the same series of movements, perfection being his aim. The door creaked open shocking the boy. He quickly paused the music and turned around, almost embarrassed to be seen in such a vulnerable state. Hoseok stood at the door frame, breath escaping him upon seeing the one he’d be avoiding for so long.  
“You still rehearsing?” He asked.  
“Uh, yeah. Do you want the room? I can go-”  
“No. I um… I wanted to talk to you actually.” Jimin looked to the ground. It would have been easier if he just wanted the room. “I don’t want things to be weird when we perform,” he continued.  
“I don’t want that either…” As difficult as it was to admit, Jimin knew that it was better they talked things out before the show. If they danced without sorting out this weird tension between them, it could affect the performance and ruin Jimin’s chance at getting into Seoul Institute of the Arts. Hoseok walked towards Jimin, his hands in his pocket and his hair a mess. For someone who usually radiated happiness and never ending energy, he seemed extremely held back and reserved.  
“I’m sorry for making things weird between us. Especially after I specifically said that I didn’t want that to happen,” he started. “It’s just that I’ve liked you for so long, and I know you may not be into me too and that’s completely fine but… You’ve been acting so strange lately and giving some really mixed signals…” He looked Jimin in the eyes, all emotions and vulnerabilities out in the open. “It’s just that I’ve spent so long trying to get over you, and you kissing me and all this stuff… It really doesn’t help me with that process.”  
“I know it doesn’t but…” Jimin hesitated. “Hyung… The first time we kissed…”  
“What about it?”  
“It wasn’t me that kissed you.”

“So, let me get this straight… You’ve been switching places with a boy called Jungkook, and he’s the one who kissed me the first time?”  
“Yes.” The two had been talking for several hours, skipping classes and locking the practice room so they could lay in solitude together. They looked up to the ceiling, refusing to turn and face each other. It was easier this way.  
“So Jungkook’s into guys, then?”  
“Yeah.”  
“And you got confused because as Jungkook, you kissed his boyfriend?”  
“Well they’re not really dating, it’s… Casual, I guess…” Jimin rested his hands, fingers interlaced with each other, on his stomach.  
“I don’t get why that’d confuse you though?” It was then that Hoseok turned to face Jimin. “If you kiss a guy when you’re straight, usually it confirms that you’re straight because you’re not into it.” Jimin’s jaw clenched as he shut his eyes. ‘Unless… You were into it?” Jimin opened his eyes again.  
“I wasn’t into it. But I wasn’t into it because I knew there was another boy that I’d rather kiss.” Hoseok’s heartbeat sped up as Jimin turned to look at him as well. “That’s what made it confusing.”  
“Who did you… Want to kiss?”  
“Jungkook.”  
“Oh.” Hoseok quickly turned his head to look back at the ceiling. “Right. Jungkook. Jungkook who’s-”  
“A boy… Yeah.” Jimin examined Hoseok’s face which seemed to simultaneously look stiff yet soft at the same time.  
“So it’s not that you’re not into guys, you’re just… Not into me.”  
“I’m sorry,” Jimin whispered. “I’m really sorry.”  
“It’s not your fault. You can’t help who you’re attracted to, right?” Hoseok looked over to Jimin again, them making eye contact. Jimin let a soft understanding smile creep onto his face, Hoseok returning it straight back.  
“Right.”

 

Namjoon and Jungkook sat in one of the many study rooms available to book. Their books, papers and various pieces of stationary scattered on the table, an abandoned mess. Their eyes instead were glued to Jungkook’s phone. Jimin was on the screen once again, his moves capturing the attention of the young men watching.  
“He’s really talented,” Namjoon said. “When you switch, do you get his ability to dance?”  
“No, I’m still me. My memories, my abilities. I’m just in his body is all.” They continued to watch in admiration before Namjoon’s eyes decided to watch Jungkook’s face instead.  
“You really like him, don’t you?” Jungkook let out a chuckle in response.  
“Is it bad that I think I’m falling for him?”  
“I’d expect nothing less,” Namjoon replied, ruffling Jungkook’s hair.  
“God, why does he have to be straight?” Jungkook sighed.  
“Straight?” Namjoon paused. “You sure?” Jungkook turned to Namjoon in confusion.  
“Of course. I mean… He did kiss Taehyung as me once. And there’s a weird thing with him and Hoseok-”  
“Hoseok?”  
“Dancer friend.” Namjoon began to laugh. “What?”  
“I think he’s into you,” Namjoon stated.  
“Me? Why?”  
“When you last switched. I got to speak to him, right? He um…” Namjoon chuckled before continuing. “He was really excited to potentially meet you. And he was going to invite you to the dance show to see him. The smile on his face when talking about you… It’s definitely the face of something more than just a platonic liking.” Namjoon started collecting some of the papers together on the desk in front of them, organising them into neater piles.  
“You really think so?”  
“I do,” Namjoon said as he sat back in his chair. “You should tell him how you feel.” Jungkook looked down at the floor.  
“What if I can’t?” Namjoon’s eyebrows furrowed in response. “I was meant to meet him today.”  
“But-”  
“But I can’t… I know. He doesn’t know that though. He’s going to think I’m just standing him up.”  
“Just explain to him next time-”  
“WHAT IF THERE ISN’T A NEXT TIME?!” Jungkook screamed. “This…  _Thing_.It’s unpredictable. And the dance show is  _really_ soon. What if… What if I don’t ever get to see him again? He’s going to think of me as the asshole who stood him up.” He pushed himself out of his chair angrily, beginning to pace around. “He’s going to die thinking that I NEVER CARED! When I… I care SO FUCKING MUCH! MORE THAN HE COULD EVER IMAGINE!” Tears streamed down his face as all his emotions came bubbling to the surface. He came to a halt as everything within him broke down. Jungkook couldn’t understand why he cared about Jimin so much, but he knew that he did care and that was enough for him to feel heartbroken at the thought of losing the boy permanently. Namjoon started packing everything into their bags, carrying them in one hand as he grabbed Jungkook’s hand in the other.  
“Let’s go find Taehyung, yeah?”

 

The sound of the final bell rang throughout the emptying corridors as Jimin left his classroom, wondering over to his locker. A wide grin took hold on his face.  _Today’s the day._  He put all his books and his bag in his locker before checking in his phone camera to make sure he looked okay. It was nerve wracking, yet exciting. He knew Jungkook had seen him multiple times before, but never from a third person perspective. He wanted to make a good impression, finally show his personality from within his own body.  _Today’s the day.  
_ He walked into class 2B, the room he had said to meet in, and sat on one of the desks with his legs crossed at the ankles, swinging them back and forth as he waited. And waited.  
And waited.  
But there was no sign of Jungkook.  
Minutes ticked by. And then hours. Four hours, to be exact. And Jimin finally gave up waiting. He stood up from off the floor where he had seated himself after some time and finally left the building.  
 _Today’s the day, huh?_


	13. 13

 

 

13

 

 

_I’m running out of time,_ Jungkook thought to himself. If he didn’t act now, was there ever really any chance of him changing things? Only he and Namjoon knew about the situation at hand, and it was eating him up inside. Jimin’s life was at stake and Jungkook had no control over what was going to happen, because it had already happened. He sat in the library staring into space as everything circled around in his mind. Namjoon appeared, seemingly out of breath, and took place in the seat next to Jungkook.  
“You alright?” He asked. Jungkook drew his attention to Namjoon, breaking the spell he was seemingly under. “Sorry… Of course you’re not alright.” He reached into his bag, pulling out his water bottle, taking a big gulp before realising Jungkook wasn’t going to speak on his own accord. “You still haven’t switched then?”  
“I was hoping I would this morning but… Nothing…”  
“You scared?” Namjoon asked.  
“I’m fucking terrified…” Jungkook started. “The shows meant to be tonight. If we don’t switch before then, I have no chance of warning him.”  
“Maybe you’re not meant to warn him. I mean… He’s already died, Guk… I don’t think there’s anything you can do to save him…” Namjoon stated. His voice was soft and kind, but the words were harsh in Jungkook’s ears. He looked up sharply at Namjoon.  
“Why the fuck would you say that?” Namjoon’s eyebrows raised in shock.  
“I… Because it’s probably true?”  
“What? So that means I should just give up? No. I- I’m saving him, okay? I have no choice.”  
“You also have no choice of when you switch. Even if you did switch with him today. How would you even attempt to help him?” His voice was laced with care and concern as Jungkook’s eyes darted around in search for a solution.  
“Yoongi…” Jungkook looked up. “That guy… Min Yoongi. He was there the night of the shooting, wasn’t he?”  
“Yeah, but-”  
“And he was friends with Jimin. I didn’t speak to him much but I could  _feel_  their connection. If anyone knows what to do, it’s going to be him.”  
“Jungkook-”  
“I can ask what he remembers from that night and get him to tell me what to avoid and what to do!”  
“What he  _remembers_. Is his friend dying in front of his very eyes, okay? And I don’t think he’ll appreciate you bringing it up, especially on the anniversary of it,” Namjoon insisted.  
“I’m not giving up on him, Joon.” The two stared at each other as Taehyung approached the table, sitting next to Namjoon. He looked at the two as they broke from their stances, sensing the weird atmosphere immediately.  
“Are you two alright?” He put down his bag, looking at the two with worry. “Did you guys get in an argument or something?”  
“No, I’m just…” Jungkook looked at Namjoon before turning back. “I’m just going through something at the moment.”  
“What kind of thing?”  
“It’s personal, Tae.”  
“Personal enough so you can tell Namjoon but not me? Your supposed best friend?” Taehyung instantly regretted saying anything. “Nevermind. You clearly don’t want me to know for a reason, right?” He faked a smile as he looked at the pair, hurt still showing in his eyes. He trusted Jungkook. It pained him. But there was trust in a thin veil covering that pain.

 

Rehearsals for the show would begin shortly and Jimin was already practising to himself whilst walking. Music flowed through his earphones at full blast, blocking out the world around him as his arms moved in under-exaggerated movements. He had spent the past few days fixated on his parts in the show, not sparing a single second to even allow his mind to wander towards the pain he felt in his heart after being stood up by Jungkook. Today was the most important day in Jimin’s life, and he wasn’t going to mess it up. An arm throwing itself around Jimin’s shoulders made him jump, pulling out an earphone in fear before stopping the track altogether at the realisation it was just Seokjin. After the night he got suffocated, he’d been on edge and flinched at any surprise contact ever since. He sighed in relief at the realisation it was his friend.  
“You ready for tonight?!”  
“I’m trying to be,” Jimin replied, laughing nervously.  
“Don’t worry. You’ll be great. You and Hobi are easily the best dancers here.” Jimin laughed again.  
“It’s just nerve wracking, is all. My whole future depends on how tonight goes. I’m just scared I’ll mess something up.”  
“You’ll be fine,” Seokjin joked. The boys walked side by side as Jimin went over the moves in his mind, stuck on replay. “Jimin-ah. Listen to me. You’ll be amazing, okay? I’m certain of it.” He patted Jimin on the shoulder before they continued their walk to rehearsals in silence.

 

Jungkook, Namjoon, and Taehyung walked together into the corridor as their conversations faded into silence. They came to a halt as Namjoon went through his locker, selecting his books to coincide with what he planned to study that night. As Namjoon rummaged through the slightly disorganised space, Jungkook spotted a figure out the corner of his eye.  _Min Yoongi._  Jungkook’s heart raced as he sprinted after the man, Namjoon and Taehyung turning in shock and confusion at the rush of movement.  
“MIN YOONGI!” Yoongi’s eyes flickered up at his name and he sped up his walking. Now was not the time. Today was not the day. He couldn’t deal with this kid right now. He just couldn’t. “MIN YOONGI!” Jungkook cried again, eventually catching up with the boy. “I need you to tell me about three years ago.” He breathed heavily, trying to push down the fear rising in his stomach, determination in his eyes.  
“What?” Yoongi turned to face Jungkook.  
“I need you to tell me about three years ago today… The shooting,” he breathed out. Yoongi clenched his jaw.  
“I don’t talk about that anymore.” He started walking away angrily before Jungkook stepped in front of him, blocking his path.  
“Please! I need to know!” Yoongi’s eyes flickered with recognition as he heard the boy’s pleas.  
“Oh my God, it was you…” Jungkook was taken back. “YOU’RE THE ONE THAT GOT HIM KILLED! YOU’RE THE REASON HE DIED!” Yoongi yelled as he pushed Jungkook hard several times.  
“Please… I’m trying to stop it from happening.”  
“WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU CAN STOP IT?! YOU DON’T KNOW HOW TIME WORKS! IT’S COMPLICATED AND CONFUSING AND YOU SHOULDN’T TRY MEDDLING WITH IT!” Yoongi screamed in Jungkook’s face, scaring him. Jungkook may have been frightened, but he wasn’t going to give up that easily.  
“Please... I need to at least try. I just need to know if he falls asleep, or goes unconscious at any point…” Jungkook pleaded.  
“No… He doesn’t.” Yoongi stepped closer, intimidating the younger. “But it doesn’t matter because you show up anyway and he, still, dies.” His face was stone cold and his eyes pierced those of the one in front of him. “Doing this isn’t going to change anything, Jungkook.”  
“It can if you help me, just tell me what I did wrong!”  
“I can’t do this.” Yoongi turned, walking away, shaking his head.  
“You have to help me!” Yoongi stopped. He turned around, quickly storming closer to the male again, anger boiling on his face. Other students nearby had started to pay attention, listening in on what the two were discussing.  
“I DON’T  _HAVE_  TO DO ANYTHING! I’VE MOVED ON. I’VE ACCEPTED HIS DEATH, AND YOU SHOULD TOO! DON’T BRING ME INTO THIS, I REFUSE TO BE WHAT KILLS HIM OKAY? I FUCKING REFUSE!” He shoved the younger harsher than before, knocking him over. As the younger stood up again, a teacher turned the corner hearing the commotion, running over to try and stop the two from taking things further. “I LOVED HIM! I LOVED HIM BUT HE WAS SO OBSESSED WITH YOU!” He pushed again.  
“Okay! Let’s move along, Yoongi!” The teacher commanded. “AND YOU WERE SO OBSESSED WITH HIM TO THE POINT THAT YOU GOT HIM KILLED!” He pushed again. “I said. Let’s move along!”  
“AND I’M THE ONE THAT HAS TO LIVE WITH THE CONSEQUENCES!”  
“YOONGI!” Tears were burning down Yoongi’s face as he breathed heavily, the teacher behind him. “Do I have to make another appointment for you?”  
“Don’t bother.” Yoongi shoved past the teacher as he walked away, leaving a scared and broken Jungkook behind who the teacher then approached.  
“I suggest, you go home and leave Min Yoongi alone from now on, okay?” He left the corridor and Jungkook behind as students began to dissipate.  
“What the hell was that?” Taehyung asked as he stormed over, Namjoon following close behind.  
“Tae, don’t.” Namjoon tried to control the younger but it wouldn’t work.  
“No. What the hell is going on?! Why is Min Yoongi screaming at you? What the fuck is up?!”  
“THE LOVE OF MY LIFE IS ABOUT TO FUCKING DIE, THAT’S WHAT’S UP!” Jungkook screamed.  
“What?”  
“Jungkook-” Namjoon started.  
“ALL I WANT IS TO SAVE HIM BUT NO ONE SEEMS TO GIVE A SHIT!”  
“Jungkook.”  
“WHY IS EVERYONE SO CERTAIN THAT TIME CAN’T BE CHANGED? ISN’T IT AT LEAST WORTH A FUCKING TRY?!”  
“JUNGKOOK!” Namjoon yelled. Jungkook paused, turning to look at the older boy. “Now is not the time or place.” He signalled to the hundreds of eyes that had found their way to watching Jungkook throughout the situation.  
“If not now… When?”

 


	14. 14

 

 

14

 

 

“Fifteen minutes!”  
It wasn’t long until the dance show would begin and with the opening act being one of the larger groups, there were many people darting around backstage in the mass-rush of everyone getting ready. Flashes of blue silk and freshly used makeup brushes covered Jimin’s eyes as he practised the opening moves whilst Hoseok styled his hair.  
“Will you stay still?” He said, Jimin’s head moving around too much for him to focus.  
“I don’t want to forget anything,” he responded.  
“You’re not going to forget, Jimin.” He continued to twiddle with pieces of Jimin’s hair, trying to get them to stay in place as the younger continued to move in his seat. “Jimin.”  
“What?” He turned sharply to face Hoseok.  
“Just… Relax. Okay? You’ll do better if you just relax and feel the music.”  
“You’re right. I’m sorry.”  
“You’re just on edge. I get it, it’s fine.” He rested his hands on Jimin’s shoulders and massaged him to try and ease the boy before stopping and looking at his hair once more. “I need more hairspray, God dammit.” He turned around to walk off but came to an abrupt stop at the sight of Yoongi standing there with flowers. “Hyung! What are you doing here?”  
“I uh… I came to wish you guys luck.” He laughed awkwardly, running a hand through his hair as he looked at Jimin. “I remember you said that lilies calm you down because they remind you of your Mom, so… I got you some, if that’s okay.” He handed the flowers to Jimin whose mouth opened slightly at the gesture.  
“I… Thank you, they’re…”  
“Surprisingly expensive,” Yoongi laughed. “But you’re worth every penny.” He nodded softly to himself as Hoseok furrowed his brows.  
“Yoongi, what are you doing?” Hoseok asked.  
“Hoseok, don’t-” Jimin tried to stop him.  
“I’m just being nice, Hobi. Something I know you’ve not been recently,” Yoongi responded.  
“Okay, we are  _not_  doing this right now.” Jimin stood up, ready to leave when a loud crash was heard outside. It sounded like glass shattering and caught the attention of most of the dancers, but was disregarded as it didn’t seem to affect any of them directly. “I’m going to go find some water to put these in. Thanks Yoongi.” He smiled before a loud gunshot was heard echoing throughout the halls outside. Everyone turned and some gasps and murmurs were heard before another shot fired and everyone began either ducking or screaming and running away.  
“What the fuck was that!”  
“Was that a gun?!”  
Everything became chaotic in an instant. Teacher’s running around, trying to keep everyone calm. The fire alarm being pulled as it was the only type of alarm the school had. And Jimin seeing all his dreams crumble in front of him.  
 _I’m not going to get to perform… Am I?  
_ Seokjin ran up to the three boys and asked them what the hell was going on, them responding with uncertain answers and fear lacing their every word.  
“What the  _fuck_ do we do?!” Yoongi exclaimed.  
“Hide? I guess?!” Hoseok answered.  
“Okay, but where?!”  
“The closet…” Jimin responded. “The cleaning closet. The door handle is dodgy so everyone always thinks it’s locked when they try to open it, but it’s not. It the perfect hiding place.” They all looked at each other as the chaos around them continued.  
“Okay, let’s go then,” Seokjin stated.

 

Namjoon shut his book as he looked around the library. Only a few students remained as everyone else had either gone home or to the study hall, and while it was nice that they didn’t have to worry as much about making too much noise, it also felt somewhat isolating.  
“It’s not my place to tell, Tae,” Namjoon sighed. “This is Jungkook’s thing to tell, not mine.”  
“He’s been an absolute mess these past couple of days. I just want to know what’s up.”  
“I’m sure he’ll tell you when he’s ready.” Namjoon sighed again. “Where the fuck is he?” A pair of hands slammed on the table in front of him and attached to those hands was no one other than Jeon Jungkook, holding what appeared to be rope.  
“I need your help.”

“So tell me  _why_  you want us to tie you to a chair?”  
“Okay, um… I need to tell you something.” Jungkook gestured for Taehyung to sit down on the table of the classroom he had dragged both boys to. “Remember when I told you about those dreams I was having? Where I switched places with someone?” Taehyung subtly looked towards Namjoon, remembering the conversation they’d had regarding those dreams.  
“Yeah?”  
“Well they weren’t dreams.”  
“Holy shit.”  
“I don’t expect you to fully under-”  
“You were right.” Taehyung had turned to Namjoon, cutting Jungkook off. “Jimin’s real…” Taehyung stood up, needing to process the information. “But that doesn’t explain why-”  
“Jimin dies tonight,” Jungkook stated.  
“What?”  
“Or not tonight. Tonight three years ago. Park Jimin died in the school shooting. Whenever I switch with him he’s three years in the past, to the day. Which means he dies today, and I can’t have that happen. One of us needs to be unconscious for us to switch and if it’s not him then it has to be me. And I need you to tie me up so that when Jimin gets here he can’t go anywhere and risk falling asleep or getting knocked out, otherwise we might switch back again.”  
“So what? You’re going back?” Jungkook nodded. “Are you fucking serious right now? You could get killed!”  
“Well I’d rather it be me than him,” Jungkook said. Taehyung’s mouth opened in protest, him turning to Namjoon for help.  
“Wha- Namjoon back me up!”   
“He won’t change his mind. I’ve seen how he talks about Jimin. He’d take a bullet for that boy any day. It just so happens that today he might actually have to.” Namjoon stood with his arms crossed. He didn’t want Jungkook to put himself in danger but at the same time he understood there was no stopping him.  
“You can’t be fucking serious... I already lost my brother in that shooting, I’m not losing you too!” Taehyung directed at Jungkook.  
“Well, I’m not losing Jimin! So shut up. And tie. Me. Up.” He held out the rope, offering it to Taehyung, seeing a tear fall down his cheek before he wiped it away angrily.  
“Fuck it, fine.” He grabbed the rope off of Jungkook before grabbing the back of his head and pulling him in for a hug. “Just  _promise_  me you’ll be fucking careful, okay?”  
“I will, hyung.”

 

The cupboard was larger than the boys had expected. Luckily, however, it meant they could all fit inside and hide with ease. They hid by pressing up against the walls, boxes and crates shielding Jimin, Hoseok, and Seokjin, while Yoongi remained on the other side of the room huddled up in the corner.  
“You sure we’re safe in here?” Seokjin turned to Jimin as he asked.  
“I’m sure.” Jimin breathed heavily, adrenaline running throughout his entire body but having no means of being exerted in any way.  
“I can’t believe this is happening on the night of the show. Such bullshit.” Hoseok sounded more angry than afraid, an unusual turn of events for the boy. Perhaps it was a coping mechanism, Jimin thought. A loud string of gunshots fired through the air near where the closet was located, all the boys jolting in unison at the sound. Almost like an automatic response, Yoongi curled further in on himself, shaking slightly out of fear.  
“You alright?” Jimin whispered across to him.  
“You’re the one who’s Mom got shot. I should be asking you that.”  
“I think I’ve just become used to the sound by now…” The two looked at each other, whether with understanding or some form of guilt, neither could tell. Jimin closed his eyes, letting his head lean back against the wall gently, a long exhale of breath escaping his lips.  
“Shouldn’t we call the cops or something?” Hoseok said. Jimin’s eyes remained shut as he answered.  
“Our phones in the dressing room still.”  
“Shit.”  
“Another reason why I wish they didn’t take them off us,” Seokjin joined in.  
“What’s the first reason?” Hoseok asked.  
“I was the first one to get ready. It gets boring pretty fast just sitting in a chair and waiting.” The room fell silent. Usually maybe a few scoffs of laughter would have eased the tension, but right now, everyone was too afraid to let their guard down for even a second.  
“So we have to just wait it out and hope for the best?” Yoongi asked, staring blankly into the air.  
“I mean, we could try and retrieve our phones?” Seokjin suggested.  
“What, and risk getting shot?” Jimin retorted. “I don’t think so.”  
“We could wait until they’ve moved to a different section of the building.” Hoseok said. “It’s not impossible.”  
“Are you serious right now?” Yoongi asked.  
“We could get our phones, call the police, and leave without them even knowing. It’s a good plan!”  
“In what world is that a good plan?!” Another gunshot is heard. This time a single bullet, much louder, followed by a thud. A muffled voice could be heard from outside the door.  
“Shit. That wasn’t him.” The boys in the room began looking at each other curiously.  
“Are they after someone specific?” Hoseok whispered. At that suggestion Jimin’s eyes widened. He remembered when he was being suffocated, the images flashing in his mind.  
“Holy shit…” His breathing became more rapid and he felt like he’d lost control of his lungs as they desperately craved more air regardless of how much they received in the first place.  
“Woah, Jimin. You okay?” Hoseok rested his hand on Jimin’s shoulder as a way to ground him to reality. This wasn’t the first time he’d dealt with Jimin potentially about to have a panic attack, so he knew the subtle ways to try and help him. “Just try and breathe, okay? Four, seven, eight, remember? In, hold, and out.”  
“They’re after me. They’re fucking after me. I’m the reason they’re here. I’m-”  
“Jimin, it’s alright. They’re not here because of you-”  
“YES THEY ARE!” He yelled as he started feeling light headed and woozy, his shaking getting worse.  
“What was that?” A muffled voice, different from the one before, spoke up causing everyone to look at the door in horror. Jimin let out a squeak before covering his mouth at the realisation he might have blown their cover. Tears welled up in his eyes and stung as he continued to shake and feel like he was on the verge of passing out. Footsteps approached the door and the handle began to rattle viciously as one of the men outside attempted to get inside the closet. A tear fell, rolling down Jimin’s cheek as Yoongi stared at the handle in horror, knowing he’d be first to go if they got in. “It won’t open. You sure it came from here?” Hoseok swallowed his saliva at the man’s words.  
“It sounded like it,” another voice spoke. The footsteps retreated and the boys let out breaths they didn’t even know they were holding, Jimin still shaking violently and now crying silent tears as well. They waited about twenty seconds before even daring to speak to each other again.  
“Do you think they’re gone?” Hoseok whispered.  
“I think so,” Seokjin replied.  
“You still down for getting the phones?”  
“It’s worth a shot, right?” Seokjin stood up. “Okay. Me and Hoseok will sneak into the dressing room and grab our phones from the box. You guys can stay here. We’ll be back in like five minutes.” He turned to Hoseok. “Sound good?”  
“Fuck it, sure. We have to do something, right?” Hoseok stood up, them both approaching the door.  
“No, you don’t. Just stay in here and wait it out!” Jimin suggested.  
“If we sit and do nothing, there’s no guaranteeing they won’t try the door again and actually manage to get in. This is the only real option, Jimin.” He continued approaching the door before Jimin’s hand reached out and grabbed his sleeve.  
“Please… Please don’t leave me…” Hoseok looked down, hints of guilt creeping in, but persistence over powering.  
“We’ll be back soon.” He pulled his arm away and Jimin clawed the air in an attempt to reach it again, but failing as the pair reached the door, peeked outside and exited. Jimin mirrored Yoongi by curling up and clutching his knees against his chest. A series of gunshots shattered all hope of success as the two boys looked at each other in silence.

 

Jungkook sat in the chair as Namjoon and Taehyung wrapped the rope around him, securing it in several places to prevent movement. Jungkook tested it out, seeing how well it restrained him and was satisfied with the results.  
“Okay, what now?” Namjoon asked, arms folded.  
“I need you to knock me out.”  
“Knock you out?”  
“Yeah, like punch me or something. I need to be unconscious for the switch to happen.”  
“I’ll do it,” Taehyung said. He rolled up his sleeve. “You really want to save him, right?”  
“More than anything…”  
“Then fuck it.” He pulled back his arm as Jungkook closed his eyes and prepared for impact until Namjoon stepped in front of Taehyung with his arms outstretched.  
“Wait, wait, wait! No one is  _punching_  anyone, okay?!” He interrupted. “I take sleeping pills for my insomnia, okay? We’ll just be careful with the dosage and use that.” He looked between the two boys. “Okay?”  
“Oh thank God, because I  _really_ didn’t want to get punched,” Jungkook breathed out.  
“You literally asked me to-!”  
“I’ll go get the pills, you just wait here.” Namjoon exited the room, presumably to go to his locker and left Taehyung and Jungkook alone.  
“So…” Taehyung started. “Bet you didn’t expect the first time I tie you up to be quite like this, huh?”

 

“They’re not coming back… Are they?” Yoongi asked. His eyes were fueled with fear as he stared into blank space, the situation washing over him. “Those gunshots… They were for them, weren’t they?”  
“I’m sorry,” Jimin whimpered. He sounded completely broken and worn down. His cheeks were stained with tears and his voice trembled with every word he spoke. “It’s because of me that they’re here. This is all my fault, I- I’m so sorry, hyung, I-”  
“Jimin… This might be the end…” Jimin looked over to Yoongi, his face now pale and emotionless. “I’m sorry we drifted apart… I’m even more sorry that I never got over it.”  
“Hyung, what are you on about?”  
“Jimin, we might die today…” He looked directly into Jimin’s eyes. “I think I’m in love with you.”  
“Shit… That was real bad timing, wasn’t it?” The way the boy looked at Yoongi had changed.  
“What?”  
“We have to go.” He ran across and grabbed Yoongi’s arm, dragging him up to his feet.  
“What the fuck?”  
“I don’t have time to explain. We have to go-!” Yoongi pulled his arm away in fear, staring at the boy in front of him.  
“You’re not Jimin, are you?”

 

“JUST TELL ME WHAT’S GOING ON! WHY THE HELL AM I TIED UP?!” Jimin screamed.  
“Just calm down!”  
“I know you know it’s me!”  
“Yeah, I do, now calm down and listen to us!” Namjoon instructed.  
“You brought me here on purpose… Didn’t you? Why?” Taehyung stepped forward to answer.  
“Jungkook wanted us to. He told us to tie you up so that you can’t go anywhere and potentially get knocked out or go to sleep or anything. He doesn’t want you switching back.” Jimin looked in confusion.  _So, Taehyung knows about me now, huh? That must be uncomfortable for him…  
_ “Did he know I was in danger?” Jimin asked.  
“Yeah… He knew…” Namjoon answered.  
“But how? How did he-?”  
“You die tonight, Jimin…” Taehyung interrupted. At first Jimin couldn’t tell if it was a threat or not. Did they mean that they were going to kill him? Had Jungkook decided that he hated Jimin and couldn’t bare to share bodies with him anymore? Or maybe he-  
“He’s doing this to protect you…” Namjoon said.  
“What?”  
“You and Jungkook are three years apart. Every time you switch, you go three years into the future, and he, three years into the past.” He started. “Three years ago today, a boy by the name of Park Jimin, with your face, got shot in a shooting that happened here before a dance show. It took us a while but we realised it was you, and that it was the same dance show you’d been preparing for ever since Jungkook switched with you the first time.” Jimin relaxed in the seat as he let all the information process.  _Three years?_  That explained why they couldn’t meet up. And probably why, despite putting his number into Jungkook’s phone, he never called.  
“But, why switch? What is he trying to do?”  
“He’s trying to get your body out of there. So that when you return… You’ll be safe.”  _But Hoseok and Jin-hyung are already dead… And Jungkook doesn’t even know me in that time… Is it even worth living?_

 

“Who the fuck are you?!” Yoongi held a screwdriver taken from the box behind him, threatening to injure the boy hosting Jimin’s body before him. Jungkook held his arms up in a surrender as he tried to explain without wasting too much time.  
“I’m someone that’s trying to help. That’s all you need to know right now. I just… I just want to help.”  
“Why Jimin? This isn’t even the first time. Ever since that dream-”  
“I didn’t choose this! Okay?! I didn’t choose this, but we  _have_. To go.” He slowly lowered his arms. “Please.”  
“You seriously want to try and leave? Do you even realise how dangerous that is?! Hoseok and Seokjin still haven’t come back and are most likely dead… I don’t want to die…” There was pleading in his eyes which tugged at something within Jungkook.  
“I won’t let that happen. It didn’t happen the first time and I won’t let it happen this time.” He reached out his hand for Yoongi to grab. “Now we have to go.” Yoongi looked into his eyes. He couldn’t tell whether it was because it was Jimin’s face or for some other reason… But he trusted whoever this person was.  
“Fine. Let’s go.” He put his hand in Jungkook’s and let him lead him to the door where Jungkook looked out to check that the coast was clear.  
“Okay, come on.” He tiptoed out of the room quickly, lightly pulling Yoongi behind him. Yoongi looked behind him and let go of Jungkook’s hand as he saw the bodies of his two friends on the floor. Seokjin’s eyes were shut, and he looked peaceful, but Hoseok… Hoseok’s eyes were wide open with fear. Blood pooled around both his head and his chest, his head must have hit the floor hard as he fell. His hand was limp, resting near his shoulder and blood was on his hands and under his fingernails. Yoongi couldn’t move. “Yoongi, we have to go, come on!” Jungkook whisper-shouted. He continued to stare at the bodies.  
“It’s them… They’re really… They’re really dead, they-”  
BANG!  
Yoongi quickly turned around and saw Jimin’s body wide eyed and frozen. Jungkook felt a sharp pain in his back and ringing in his head. He fell to his knees in what felt like slow motion as Yoongi looked at him in horror, realising what had happened before running away to save himself. Jungkook could feel himself fading as gravity took over and pulled the rest of his body down.

A centimetre before his face hit the ground, his eyes had readjusted to see Namjoon and Taehyung sat across from him on the tables.  
“No… No. NO! NO! TAKE ME BACK! TAKE ME FUCKING BACK! NO!” They looked up at Jungkook thrashing around in his chair and screaming.  
“Woah, woah. Jungkook?” Namjoon questioned. They hadn’t expected Jungkook to make such a sudden return, much less an extremely loud and intense one. “TAKE ME BACK! TAKE ME INSTEAD OF HIM! TAKE ME INSTEAD! NO!” Namjoon and Taehyung had ran to Jungkook’s side, kneeling. Namjoon then holding onto Jungkook’s shoulder as Jungkook stopped yelling, instead bursting into tears.  
“What happened?” Namjoon asked softly.  
“I- I got shot, he fuck- he fucking got shot, I- I- I couldn’t- couldn’t stop it, I-”  
“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” He put his hand through Jungkook’s hair in an attempt to sooth him as Taehyung rested his hand on the younger’s thigh.  
“Hyung… I caused it… It was because of me that- that he got- that he got shot…” Jungkook couldn’t stop the tears and the strain in his throat as he spoke. “It should have been me that died… But instead… Instead I came back here… Which means, which means he’s, he’s…”  
“Hey, why don’t you get him some water?” Taehyung suggested to Namjoon. He looked at the two before nodding in agreement and leaving to give them some space. Taehyung immediately stood up, untying Jungkook, then sitting on his lap and hugging him.  
 _“I killed him…”_


	15. 15

 

 

15

 

 

Everything felt numb.  
It had only been a few days since it happened, and Jungkook didn’t know how much longer he could cope. Everything hurt. A lot. It felt like a part of his soul had been ripped out and he no longer knew how to function. He’d been shot. Yet, as a result, he was fine and Jimin was the one who suffered the consequences. And no one else knew. He couldn’t talk to anyone without being deemed insane and he had to suffer in silence, continuing to attend school and pass that stupid memorial case every day. His failures staring him down as his heart was repeatedly stabbed without his consent. One time, he decided to stop at the case and look at it. But seeing Jimin’s face just brought back horrific memories flashing before his eyes of Hoseok’s dead eyes staring him down as Yoongi watched him fall to his knees, blood spilling out of his back.  
He  _felt_  Jimin die.  
After they had switched back, he could  _feel_  Jimin’s slip away from him and it was more painful than anything else he’d ever experienced. And it was all his fault.  
He stepped away from the case and continued walking, catching eyes with Yoongi as they walked in opposite directions. The way he looked at Jungkook was different. It was sympathetic rather than harsh or reserved. He knew exactly what had happened and what they’d now been through together.

The rest of the day felt like a blur. Jungkook couldn’t pay attention in class and every time he saw a teacher that had also taught Jimin, it pained him. He saw Mrs. Ong walking down the hallway, recognising her instantly. She was the teacher who seemed to know Jimin on a more personal level. Their relationship was unclear but it seemed that Mrs. Ong cared about Jimin and understood his situation even better than Jungkook did. He approached her.  
“Mrs. Ong!” He gently ran up to her, noticing the confusion on her face as a student she had never taught approached her. “Thank you.” Jungkook blurted out.  
“Um, for- for what?”  
“For always looking out for Jimin. It sucks that he’s gone, and-and… And I hope the anniversary wasn’t too tough for you, um…” He could feel the tears coming up again but tried to suppress them.  
“Would you like to talk somewhere?” She offered. He opened his mouth to respond but all that came out were sobs as he broke down. “Hey, hey, let’s go somewhere to talk, yeah? It’ll be okay.” She ushered him into a room reserved for staff members which was empty and let him sit down. She sat opposite the boy, sympathy in her eyes as tears consumed his. “Would you like some coffee?” Jungkook shook his head in response and breathed heavily trying to calm himself down. “I take it you knew Jimin well?” Jungkook remained silent as he focused on his breathing instead. “Okay, let’s start with an easier question. What’s your name?”  
“Jeon Jungkook…”  
“You’re Taehyung’s friend, right?” She asked. Jungkook looked up confused. “I had no idea you also lost someone in the shooting. I’m surprised Taehyung didn’t suggest you join him for a visit.”  
“A visit?”  
“Oh. I’m sorry. I assumed Taehyung would have told you that he sees me for counselling. He always says you’re his best friend-”  
“Yeah, I am.” She held her hand out comfortingly,  
“If he’s not told you, I’m sure it’s for a reason. Either way… I want to know if  _you’re_  okay. It must still feel like it was only a few days ago that it happened, right?” Jungkook looked her directly in the eyes.  
“You have no idea.”

She had told him that he needed closure. Closure and time were the key elements to healing apparently and Jungkook wasn’t even sure how he was supposed to get either. After some thinking they came up with the idea of Jungkook trying to look back on happy moments between him and Jimin instead. That if he remembered him in a positive light instead of a negative one, it could help.  
 _“I know you probably feel angry-”  
_ _“I don’t feel angry.”  
_ _“Then what do you feel?”  
_ _“Guilt.”_  
He thought it would hurt too much to see his face again, so instead settled for reading through their notes to each other from the switches. He walked to his locker, opening it and taking the book they shared. He opened it up to the first page, only to see that it was blank. He turned the page and another and another, but all the pages were empty. In a panic, he flicked through the pages quickly, searching for absolutely anything, but again. Nothing. He backed away from his locker as Namjoon and Taehyung approached him, worry on their faces.  
“Hey, are you alright?” Namjoon asked.  
“The pages… They’re gone…”  
“What are you talking about?” Taehyung joined. Jungkook turned to Taehyung, this time angrier.  
“The pages are missing!” He waved the book frantically in Taehyung’s face, rage boiling up inside of him slowly. He looked at Taehyung with a slight glint in his eye. “Did you rip the pages out?”  
“What?”  
“DID YOU RIP THE PAGES OUT?!” He yelled in Taehyung’s face, drawing in the attention of those around him.  
“What?! No! I’ve not even touched-!”  
“THEY’RE GONE! EVERYTHING I HAD OF HIM IS GONE!” Jungkook dropped the book and gripped Taehyung tightly, shaking him violently as he spoke. “THAT WAS ALL I HAD LEFT OF HIM! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” Namjoon stepped in as Taehyung’s eyes widened.  
“Okay, okay, hey!” He stepped in between the two, turning towards Jungkook. “We know you’re hurting! Alright? But that’s no need to get violent, especially with us.”  
“Every day, it feels like I remember him less… And sure, it hurts but… That doesn’t mean I want to forget, I…” He began crying again. “I miss him… Hyung. I really, really fucking miss him.”  
“I know you do, Guk… I know you do.” Namjoon reached out to comfort Jungkook but he pulled away.  
“I have to go. I’m sorry.” He picked up the book and walked off before either boy could get another word in, Namjoon and Taehyung even more concerned than before.

He made his way up to the roof. It was usually closed off but it opened up occasionally for the gardening club to work on the plants up there, giving Jungkook clear access. He wandered around, breathing in the air and taking a moment to himself. He sat down against a giant tree that had been planted when the school first opened, and opened up the book that he and Jimin used to write in. The pages were still blank, but he planned to change that. He reached into his bag and pulled out a pencil, moving it to take place on the page. Lines formed on the page, slowly making up a face, until over time it started to resemble Jimin. Jungkook paid extreme attention to the eyes, taking his time to get the shape and the glisten in them just right. It became harder to remember the details, the more he drew, but Jungkook wasn’t one to give up easily. After about twenty minutes of silent drawing, erasing, and re-drawing, Jungkook stared at the unfinished drawing. The eyes were perfect. The lips were close. But everything else… It just wasn’t right. His lip trembled as he felt himself giving up, the face of Jimin slowly slipping from his memory. His eyes stung as he let his head rest on his arms, silent tears staining the page. Footsteps approached and a soft voice reached out to him.  
“Are you okay?”

The bell rang indicating the end of the day, and Namjoon joined Taehyung at their usual table in the library.   
“Where do you think he went?” Taehyung stared vacantly towards the wall as Namjoon sipped on his coffee. “I mean… I don’t think he did anything bad but… I’m still worried, you know?”  
“He just needs time to process everything.”  
“He’s had time!”  
“It’s been not even a week, Tae. Did you get over your brother’s death in a couple of days?” Taehyung’s jaw clenched.  
“No.”  
“Then you should know first hand that it’s not that easy.” Namjoon stated. He pulled out his phone and called Jungkook, it going straight to voicemail. “Hey, dude. I know you’re going through a hard time right now, but we’re worried sick. Just call us when you can, okay?” He put his phone on the table and resumed drinking from his coffee cup. A pair of arms slammed themselves onto the table next to the boys, a heavy-breathing Yoongi attached to them.  
“Woah. You alright?” Taehyung asked, his eyes wide.  
“I know what we have to do.” Yoongi breathed out.  
“What?”  
“I think I know how to save Jimin.”

Notebooks and various diagrams of what appeared to be timelines surrounded the three as Yoongi rambled on about the complexities of time travel.  
“I don’t get it.” Taehyung said. Yoongi pulled forward one of his diagrams which showed a demonstration of a timeline. The line started at one end, but as soon as it reached the other, it would curve and go back, only to curve again and so on and so on, making six rows in total. Yoongi pointed at the first row.  
“Okay, so imagine this is the year Jimin’s in, right?” He then pointed at the third row. “And this is Jungkook’s year,  _our_ year.” Taehyung nodded in understanding. Yoongi placed his right index finger on Jimin’s row, and his left index finger on Jungkook’s, moving them in sync following the line. “They’re moving three years apart, yet always parallel to each other. Or at least that’s what I thought.” He pulled another piece of paper towards him, covered in illiterate scribbles. “There’s a chance that Jungkook is bound to that year. So instead of them moving parallel to each other, instead, Jungkook is just travelling to the same day of his time, in that  _specific_  year. Which would mean that, come January, he would be able to switch again.”  
“So you’re not actually sure?” Taehyung questioned.  
“Even if it did work like that. Jimin’s already died. We can’t just  _change_  that, otherwise there’d be no cause of Jungkook going back in the first place, which would undo the whole saving him part and we’d be stuck in a paradox. Either that, or it’d just create an alternate timeline and there’s no guarantee we’d then  _go_  to that timeline.” Namjoon said. “We don’t know enough about how time travel actually works. It’s not something we can just mess with.” Yoongi sat back and crossed his arms.  
“That’s exactly what I thought.” He said. “But no one ever saw the body.” The boys looked at him confused. “The only evidence of Jimin being dead, are a local newspaper article being published, and the memorial case in the school. Which gave me an idea. What if we went back, and told Jimin to fake his death. We could make sure that the article is published, that he’s put in the memorial case, and that I don’t see him. If he survives and makes it so all those pieces can be put in place, then nothing in the timeline would have changed. Everything would line up perfectly. If you change the timeline in any way it’s going to fuck things up massively. But if you’re making things that have already happened happen-”  
“Then you’re just completing the cycle…” Namjoon finished. “So instead of changing the timeline… We’d just be causing what’s already happened, to happen…” Namjoon affirmed.  
“Exactly.”  
“So if we do that and pull it off… That would mean…” Taehyung started and looked towards Yoongi who finished his sentence.  
 _“Jimin’s alive.”_ __

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author notes:  
> If you have any questions or comments about the fanfic feel free to leave them on my curious cat https://curiouscat.me/mintyglitches i'd love to hear what you guys think so far (:  
> \- minty


	16. 16

 

 

16

 

 

Jungkook ran through the streets, heart beating out of his chest.  _He looked too much like him. It wasn’t him. It couldn’t be_. His mind was spinning and a severe pain hit him when he tripped and fell onto the concrete below him. He sat up, grabbing his ankle as it throbbed and took in sharp inhales through his teeth. The floor sent shivers down Jungkook’s spine, the cold finally reaching him. He stood up, limping the rest of the way home. This was all too much.

He knocked on the front door, his Mother opening up, a look of worry and confusion on her features before Jungkook crumbled and crashed into a hug, the only sound coming from him being loud sobs, as his tears probably stained his Mother’s blouse. Her eyes widened before gradually settling back to normal as she held her son tightly, running circles onto his back.   
“Let’s go inside.” She whispered before gently nudging Jungkook away from her so he could follow her into the house.

They sat at the dining table together, Jungkook unable to look his Mother in the eyes.  
“Have you ever tried to fix something, only to then be the cause of the destruction in the first place?” He asked. His Mother tilted her head slightly, not understanding what her son meant. “I… I tried so hard… I…” Jungkook let out more tears and his Mother looked away, unable to bear the sight of her son upset. She hadn’t seen him cry since he was an infant, and it was destroying her to see him fall apart like this.   
“Jungkook, honey. What happened? What’s this all about?” She reached out her hand across the table, Jungkook taking it into his own. Jungkook hesitated at first. He wanted to tell her everything. About the switching. About the shooting. About everything. But he knew that if he told her the full story, she either wouldn’t believe him or she would and get upset and angry that Jungkook would put his own life at risk to save someone that he’s never technically met.  
“Somebody close to me got hurt… And it was all my fault…”   
“Your fault? Honey, what do you mean?” It was the moment for Jungkook to decide if he was going to tell him Mother of not.  
“I loved him.” Jungkook couldn’t help the words that slipped out.  
“Who, honey? I don’t understand.”  
“I loved him so much and I got him shot.”  
“Shot? Wha- What are you on about?” Mrs. Jeon reached her hand onto Jungkook’s shoulder.  
“If it wasn’t for me, there might have been a chance he’d survive. I loved him so much Mom, I-” Jungkook stared at the table and the tear that dripped onto the surface. “I felt him die, Mom.”  
“What do you mean you  _felt_ him die, wh- who died. I’m so confused…” Worry increased in her voice, it trembling slightly at the words coming from her only son.  
“His name was Jimin… And… And I think I fell in love with him? And- And now he’s dead and-and I miss him so goddamn much, I-” Jungkook covered his face with his hands and began sobbing to himself again, falling apart in front of his Mother’s eyes. Mrs. Jeon wanted more details but also didn’t want to push her son too far. She figured she’d talk to him about it more in depth later. For now, her son needed comforting and that was her main priority.  
“What can I do to help?” It was direct, but she didn’t know how else to be there for the boy.  
“I just want to not have to think about it for a while,” Jungkook answered.  
“Okay… We could watch a movie if you’d like?” Jungkook nodded although he didn’t know if it would work. But he trusted his Mom. He really did.

 

Yoongi and Taehyung laid on the large sofas in the abandoned staff room of the school, waiting for Namjoon to come back with some snacks. If they were going to develop a full plan, then they needed food for thought, there was no doubt about that. Taehyung found a stress ball that had been left on the table and began throwing it in the air, catching it each time it fell.   
“How come you changed your mind?” He said out of the blue. Yoongi remained staring at the ceiling as he listened to the boy’s words.  
“Hm?”  
“Jungkook. He came up to you before and wanted your help but you refused. What changed?”  
“Taehyung. When someone you don’t really know randomly comes up to you and starts asking you about a day of which the memories you try to repress… It’s unlikely you’re going to be super co-operative.” Taehyung let out a chuckle at the elder’s response, catching the ball once more, before stopping, letting the ball rest on his chest, his hands cupping it to prevent it from falling.  
“You know… My Brother got killed in the shooting.” Yoongi looked over. “So I get how you feel.”  
“No. You don’t. You didn’t have to watch it happen right in front of you.” He sat upright. “I’m sorry about your Brother though. Just because you didn’t see it, doesn’t make it easy to deal with.”  
“I’m mostly alright I guess.” He began throwing the ball again. “It’s my Mom who’s still messed up over it.”  
“Do you know why?”  
“She blames herself for it.” Taehyung noticed the elders confused look and explained. “My brother was ill that day, but my Mom didn’t believe him and made him go in anyway. If she didn’t make him go, then he wouldn’t have been there for the shooting, and if he wasn’t there for the shooting then he wouldn’t have wound up dead, so… Everyday she blames herself for it.” Taehyung failed to catch the ball and allowed it to roll along the floor, no longer within arms reach. “She didn’t let me go to school for a few months after it, out of fear something would happen to me too.” He sadly chuckled to himself. “I think I understand how she felt now.”  
“What do you mean?” Yoongi asked.  
“When Jungkook told us he wanted to go back… I thought that maybe if he was in Jimin’s body and got shot, that maybe Jungkook would die because he was the one hosting the body. I thought that Jungkook would die… And I would be left with the one responsible for that happening being stuck in the body of my best friend, pretending to be him and living the rest of his life instead… I was so fucking scared that was going to happen even though I had no way of knowing if it would or not, because I’ve never fucking dealt with  _anything_  like this before! You know, I- I fucking care about Jungkook so goddamn much! And it felt like I was the only one worried about his safety!” A tear fell from the corner of Taehyung’s eye, rolling down his temple before he wiped it with his sleeve and sat up. “Sorry… I know I’m just being stupid.”  
“No, you’re not. You care about him. A lot.”  
“Yeah, but it’s not like we’re together or anything.”  
“You’re not?” Yoongi questioned. Taehyung looked over before feeling embarrassment creep up to his face at the topic.  
“No, we’re uh… We’re not. I mean… There was  _something_  going on between us but Jimin kind of fucked that up for us.” He laughed halfheartedly and sat back on the sofa, pushing his hair back.  
“I know exactly how you feel.” Taehyung looked at Yoongi as the cogs turned in his head trying to figure out what he meant. “I, um… I’m bi, right? And I kind of had a thing for Jimin for the longest time,” he said. Taehyung’s eyes widened in response.  
“Oh.”  
“So, uh. You can imagine how I felt when Jimin told me he wasn’t into guys, which was fair enough. But then when he told me that he had hooked up with our very male friend Hoseok, and then later on told me that he thought he had met his soulmate, who I now realise was the one and only Jeon Jungkook.” Yoongi sank back into the sofa, matching Taehyung’s body language, the two finally comfortable around each other.  
“Jesus, that’d be tough.”  
“That’s one way of putting it.” They both sighed. Taehyung looked at Yoongi once more before a question began to plague his mind, which he couldn’t help but ask.  
“So… Did you and Jimin ever kiss?” Yoongi’s eye widened in a comedic manner.  
“Not that it’s any of your business, but no. We did not.” He smiled dumbly to himself at the nerve of the younger to ask such a thing and shook his head in disbelief.  
“Have you ever kissed any boy?”  
“Why? Are you offering?” He raised his eyebrows and Taehyung gave nothing but a shrug and a smirk in response, causing both of them to laugh. As the laughter died out, Namjoon came into the room pulling off his backpack and emptying the remains.  
“I expect compensation for at least  _some_  of these snacks.” He sat down next to Taehyung and breathed out heavily. “So, what have you guys come up with so far?”  
“Well… We were waiting for you.” Taehyung admitted.  
“So you’ve come up with nothing.” Namjoon stated. Yoongi pointed his finger and stood up dramatically.  
“DING DING DING! WE HAAAVVVEEE A WINNERRR!” He sat back down resuming his normal state as if he hadn’t just practically pretended to be a game show host and Namjoon flicked his eyes between the two, utter confusion on his face.  
“Anyway…” Namjoon started. “Do you have your notes and stuff with you?”  
“Uh, yeah.” Yoongi reached into his own bag and pulled out two large notebooks along with several scrap pieces of paper. “What now?”  
“Well, we need to find a way to tell Jimin that he needs to fake his death on the day of the dance show. We need a date to tell him, a way of telling him, and then the actual plan for how he should fake his death and what he should do afterwards. We also need a way to actually convince him.”  
“Well, if he doesn’t do it, he dies for real. I think that’s convincing enough as it is.” Yoongi stated.  
“Hyung, what if we get Jungkook to meet your past self, explain everything to him, and then he could find and tell Jimin? You’ve always been open to this sort of thing, you’d believe him instantly.” Taehyung suggested to Namjoon.  
“I don’t remember that happening so that can’t be what we do. The most important thing is that we keep the timeline stable. We can’t do anything that hasn’t already happened.” He replied.  
“Well… What’s already happened then?” They both turned to Yoongi.  
“Why are you looking at me!”  
“You saw him almost every day! You must have noticed something!” Taehyung exclaimed.  
“I… It was three years ago! I don’t-” He paused mid-thought, as Taehyung let out a big smile.  
“He’s remembering something. He’s fucking remembering something! This is going to work!”  
“There was one time when I was sat next to him in class and he suddenly started scribbling something down in his notebook. I didn’t really think anything of it, but then he held my hand and looked me in the eyes and said ‘Everything’s going to work out, hyung. I promise.’ I just kind of ignored it and thought it was weird, but what if it was Jungkook?” He opened one of the notebooks he had brought with him, and wrote down the moment.  
“So we get Jungkook to go back on that day and write down a note to Jimin. Make sure he says the thing to you. Then… We just need to make sure Jimin sees it and understands.” Namjoon clapped and pumped his fist in the air, falling back onto the sofa with joy. “This is actually going to work.”  
“I hate to break it to you, hyung. But we don’t know what day that happened on,” Taehyung brought up. Namjoon’s arm dropped.  
“Shit.” He looked towards Yoongi. “Do you have a way of finding out the day?”  
“I mean. Maybe? I know it was the same day as when we went to the beach together, so if I have a picture-” Yoongi stopped again.  
“More remembering?” Taehyung questioned.  
“Seokjin. He took polaroids and liked to write the date on them. He took a picture of us that day, it was his favorite.”  
“Okay, then we find Seokjin.” Namjoon sat up with enthusiasm.  
“We can’t. He died in the shooting. And I saw his body, so I know he’s dead for sure, okay?” He swallowed as the images of Seokjin and Hoseok lying there tried to enter his brain again. The three sat in silence as they all tried to think of alternatives.  
“Wait.” Taehyung stood up as he spoke. “Just because he’s dead, doesn’t mean that the polaroid just vanished! His Mom or  _some one_  has to have it, right?” He looked at Yoongi expectantly but got no response. “Right?!?!”  
“I don’t want to bring people’s parents into this, Tae.”   
“If you go and just say you want it for personal reasons, I’m sure his Mom would understand. You don’t have to bring up the whole time travel shit.”  
“He’s got a point.” Namjoon said. Yoongi hesitated before giving in to the idea.  
“Fine. I mean, I was in the picture so it’d make sense I’d want it.” He stood up and stretched his arms out. “If I go now, will you two try and convince Jungkook to actually go through with this plan?”  
“Oh shit, yeah. That’d help, wouldn’t it.” Taehyung said as Namjoon nodded in response.  
“Okay. See you in a bit with a polaroid hopefully.” He walked towards the door, throwing up a peace sign before leaving the room entirely. Taehyung looked to the sofa Yoongi had left from and at the mess of papers still on top of it.  
“Mother fucker left us with all his shit.”


	17. 17

 

 

 

17

 

 

Jungkook and his Mother sat on the sofa cuddled up under a blanket together watching Ponyo on their TV. Jungkook had finally calmed down, his tear stained face looking fully immersed in the movie before them. It was now or never.  
“Hey, sweetie?” Mrs. Jeon prompted.  
“Mm.”  
“Can we talk for a minute?” She grabbed the remote control from the arm of the sofa and paused the film, causing Jungkook to look over with childlike wonder on his face. “You said someone got shot… You realise how concerning that is to hear, right?” Jungkook’s jaw stiffened.  _Shit._  Of course his Mom would ask questions eventually. He should have just kept his mouth shut.  
“Yeah, I… I know…”  
“What actually happened? If you don’t mind me asking?” Jungkook breathed out calmly.  
“There was this boy… Called Jimin. He um… He’s new in my life, somewhat. It’s been a few months, um... “ Jungkook’s eyes kept flicking to his Mother before looking away again. “He’s amazing. He- he dances, and he works so hard, and he’s been through so goddamn much.” He paused, sniffing. “There were some bad guys. Who um… They tried to uh, to hurt him.” He swallowed. “I managed to help him a few times but… This time, I-” He really didn’t want to cry again. “I was the reason he got put in that situation. They shot him.” Flashbacks of the event played in Jungkook’s mind. “In the back.” The pain stung all over again.  
“Why didn’t you tell me this was going on?”  
“Because… Because I love him. And-and I-I-I didn’t… I didn’t know how to tell you that… I didn’t want you to leave like Dad did…”   
“Oh, honey.” She pulled her son in close to her, tears welling up in her own eyes. “I’d never do that to you. Not in a million years. When I said it was us against the world till the end of time, I meant that, okay? You’re my son, and I love you, and all I want is for you to be happy and healthy and safe, you got that?” The last thing Mrs. Jeon wanted was to fall apart in front of her son, but she could feel her tear glands winning with every word. She pulled away from the hug and wiped at her eyes, removing any liquid that had threatened to spill. “What did the police say?”  _Shit._  
“Um, well-” Thankfully a loud knocking attacked the front door, interrupting the conversation. Mrs. Jeon ruffled Jungkook’s hair as she stood up.  
“I’ll get it honey.” She opened the door to Namjoon and Taehyung standing and about to start speaking before realising it was Jungkook’s Mother who answered the door.  
“Oh. Hi, Mrs. Jeon. Um… We really really need to talk to Jungkook. Like right now.” Namjoon said.  
“Namjoon. Honey. I know what happened.”  
“Y-You do?” Namjoon and Taehyung looked at each other shocked.  
“And I think it might be best if Jungkook takes a few days off to process everything properly.”   
“But, we might have a way to save him. Can you tell him that?” Namjoon pleaded with his eyes as Jungkook sat up from the sofa at the words he just heard.  
“Save him? Honey, what are you talking about?”  
“We might be able to go back again an-”  
“The hospital!” Jungkook came running to the door, wrapped up in the blanket still. “The um… The hospital called you? Said they had a way to save him, right?” Jungkook widened his eyes sternly at Namjoon who quickly clocked on that Jungkook hadn’t told his Mother the  _whole_  story.  
“Uh… Yeah.”  
Mrs. Jeon looked at her son shocked and confused. She assumed the boy was already dead rather than hospitalised.  
“It’s a uh… It’s a complicated operation and if anything goes wrong, it could be disastrous but… But there is a way. And I really think we can do it.” Namjoon smiled comfortingly to Jungkook who let out a tear alongside his own smile.  
“Really?”  
“Really.”

 

Yoongi closed his eyes as he tried to build up the courage to knock on the door. It had been years since he last saw Seokjin’s Mother at the funeral and he didn’t want to impose, but this was the only way to potentially save Jimin. He had to do it. He had to face his fears. He knocked on the door and waited patiently until a tall slender woman opened the door and stared at the boy.  
“Can I help?” Her voice was somewhat stern, clearly belonging to someone who was confident and sure of herself. Yoongi took in a deep breath.  
“I was friends with your son. Kim Seokjin.” The confident and stern facade faded in an instant at the mention of her dead son.  
“Oh.”  
“He’s just been on my mind lately, what with the anniversary and all. And um… He took a photo of a bunch of us at the beach once. I was wondering if you still had it by any chance?”  
“I’m uh. I’m not sure. All of his stuff is in the attic, I’ll have to go check.” She hesitated before moving aside. “You can sit in the living room while you wait.”  
“Thank you.” Yoongi stepped inside and sat on the sofa in the living room as Mrs. Kim closed the door and walked presumably to where the attic was located. It was easy to tell that the Kims were a rich family just by looking at their house. It was so large and filled to the brim with golden and bronze tones that the first thought that’d fly through your mind would be wealth and fortune. As Yoongi looked around, several photographs littered the walls and surfaces, none of which included Seokjin. There were many faces, other relatives Yoongi assumed, but not one of them was of Kim Seokjin.  _Strange._  As Mrs. Kim came back into the room with a box, Yoongi was jolted out of his thoughts, and back into action. He stood up quickly before seeing Mrs. Kim sit down, causing him to awkwardly sit back down again, realising this visit wasn’t over just yet.   
“These are all of the pictures he took.” She opened the shoe box and pulled out one of the numerous images, her son’s smile staring her in the face. “I never understood why he took them.” She threw the photo back in the box with the others, closing the lid and handing it to Yoongi.   
“Oh, I only need the one-”  
“I don’t want them.” She avoided looking at Yoongi as he sat awkwardly with the box in his hands.  
“Why not?” He asked. Mrs. Kim hesitated before making eye contact with the boy.  
“Because it hurts to much to look at.” She stood up and made her way out of the living room, and back to the front door. “Now, please leave.” She opened the door and stood, waiting for Yoongi to exit with the memories her son had collected over the years.   
“Are you sure you don’t-”  
“I SAID LEAVE!” Her eyes fluttered shut as she noticed her emotions taking over. “I’m sorry.” Yoongi’s eyes widened at the apology. “Do what you need with the photos. I’ll collect them at a later date but… Not yet.” Yoongi nodded in response and made his way out of the house, the door slamming shut behind him. The cool crisp air hitting his skin once again.  
_Let’s hope the beach polaroid is actually in here._

 

“So, the plan is that you switch with Jimin, and write down a note explaining the situation and telling him how to fake his death on the night of the shooting. He should then see it, keep it a secret to himself and then proceed with making it happen. Everyone will think he died, including us, and then we get him to revisit us in this year so that we can know it worked.” The boys looked intently at Jungkook to calculate his reaction, which so far seemed positive.  
“Okay, but how is he going to fake his death?” Jungkook asked.   
“Okay, we haven’t really worked that bit out. We were hoping you and Yoongi could help us with that since you guys know his life better than us.”  
“Wait, Yoongi?”  
“Yeah, he was the one who came up with this whole idea.” Taehyung said. “He’s finding out what date we’re going back to right now.” As he said that, Yoongi came through the door, the box tucked securely underneath his arm. They all turned their heads to watch his entrance, causing the elder to stop.  
“So, I have a whole box of polaroids, and there’s no guarantee that the one we’re looking for is in here.” He said. Namjoon nodded his head once as he let that information sink in.  
“Okay… Let’s get to work on finding it, I guess.” Yoongi joined the others, sitting on one of the sofas which had been occupied by Namjoon. They opened the box and saw somewhere easily between a hundred and three hundred polaroids, all with dates written either along the bottom of the image or on the back, sometimes with a little note. As they searched through the images, memories flooded back to Yoongi. Memories which, although they were good memories, he didn’t want to recall. It had been three years since he lost his friends, but it still hurt. Nothing in his life had been the same ever since he saw Hoseok’s lifeless eyes boring into his soul, and then Jimin - or rather, Jungkook - falling to his knees as the gunshot sound echoed through the hall. He shouldn’t have looked back.  _He shouldn’t have looked back._ Yoongi took in a deep breath, trying to ground himself as he noticed his mind wandering and his head feeling light.  _Now is not the time._  He couldn’t afford to start feeling distant and spacey right now. He needed to focus. He needed to focus. He  _needed_  to  _focus_.   
“Hyung, are you alright?” Yoongi turned to the voice.  _Hyung._  He hadn’t been called hyung in ages. He took the box off from his lap and placed it on the table before walking towards the door.  
“I’m sorry, I can’t do this. I just can’t, um… You’re looking for a photo of me, Jimin, Hoseok, and Seokjin at the beach. We’re um, standing by a truck, and you can see the sea in the background.” Without any further words, he left the room, the others staring at a now-closed door in confusion.

After searching through so many photos, Jungkook finally found the one they had been searching for.  
“Hyung, I have it. I have it!” He handed it over to Namjoon who inspected it and read the date.  
“The 3rd of January… Okay, we have a date. This is good.”  
“Now, we just need to make a plan for the whole faking death thing, and plan the note,” Taehyung said.  
“We also need a time. We might need Yoongi to go through his old timetables to find out when the class was,” Namjoon corrected.  
“Ughhh, there’s so much work to do. We don’t even know if this is going to work!”  
“It’s going to work,” Jungkook stated.  
“Because it has to, I know, Guk,” Namjoon responded.  
“No.” Namjoon turned, eyebrows furrowed. “You said that if this works then it would mean that Jimin’s alive now, right?”  
“Yeah, bu-”  
“I saw Jimin.”  
“You what?” Both Namjoon and Taehyung drew their full attention towards Jungkook, eager to hear more information.  
“When? Why didn’t you tell us?”   
“I thought that it couldn’t have been him. This was before you told me about the plan, so I thought it was just my imagination. I went up to the roof and I was drawing, and he asked me if I was alright and… I panicked because he looked so much like Jimin. But now I know that he looked so much like Jimin because he  _was_ Jimin.” Namjoon sat further forward, resting his arms on his knees.  
“Are you sure it was him?”  
“I’m positive.”  
“So this really works then?” He looked at the others with hope in his eyes.  
“It really works.”

 

Yoongi didn’t know where he was going. At this point, he didn’t even know  _why_  he was going. It was all just too much to handle. He had spent so long trying to move past the whole situation, that it felt as though he had become a new person entirely. A quieter, more reserved person, who stuck to himself. But being around these guys, and looking to the past so much… It just reminded him of who he used to be and how he used to live. He understood now why Mrs. Kim couldn’t look at the photos. And why there were no pictures of Seokjin in the house anymore. It really did hurt too much to look at. It hurt too  _goddamn_ much.   
He found himself leaving the school building and walking down the street lined with several small convenience stores. He could already tell why. He went into the cheapest of the stores, giving in fully to his impulses and bought a large bottle of vodka. Leaving the store and heading towards the park nearby. It had just turned six o’clock, so the park would be closed now, meaning he could have the place all to himself. Just like old times.

He jumped over the short fence which outlined the park and sat himself down on the swing, bottle now out of the bag and in his hand instead. Hesitation in his movements, Yoongi unscrewed the lid, taking a quick swig of the substance, feeling the all too familiar sensation of the burn sliding down his throat and settling within. He was back to old habits it would seem. And Yoongi didn’t mind, one bit. The air got cooler around him as he drank more, but he felt warmer with every gulp and relished in the feeling of defying the laws of weather. His head felt heavy yet light at the same time. As if gravity was playing a game with him. And he finally lost himself to the alcohol, letting it take over his mind.  
“Yoongi-hyung?” A figure called out to him from outside of the park.  _Perfect timing._  
“The fuck do you want?” Yoongi growled in response. Of course one of them found him. He couldn’t ever get one second of fucking peace around here.  
“Is this because of me?” The figure asked.  
“You?” Yoongi stared at the figure, his vision slightly warped. “Why would it be because of you?” He went to take another swig from the bottle, shaking it to feel it’s emptiness and throwing it away from him in retaliation.   
“Because I know my death affected you… A lot.” The figure stepped forward and Yoongi looked up, now able to see the figure in full view.  
“Get the fuck out of here.”  
“But hyu-”  
“I SAID GET THE FUCK OUT!” He breathed heavily, anger pulsing through his drunken state. He couldn’t handle this today, he just couldn’t. “I can’t go through this again. I thought you were finally out of my head. I thought… I fucking thought…” The ground suddenly looked inviting as Yoongi slowly made his way to lay down on the grass, closing his eyes.  
“Do you want me to get some help?”  
“What I want, Jimin… Is for you to get out of my head, once and for all.”

“Sir.” Yoongi awoke to a large police officer stood over him. “Sir, it’s seven a.m. which means the parks opening soon. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” Yoongi sat up, clutching his head and looking around.  
“Shit. I’m sorry.”   
“I know. Just try and get some help, yeah?” The man patted Yoongi on the shoulder and walked off as memories of the night before rushed back. Birds chirped whilst Yoongi groaned, the contrast of the sounds clashing horrendously as he finally stood to his feet. He cursed himself for slipping back so easily, and began making his way home. Head still fuzzy and throbbing.

 

Class… Is loud. Louder than usual. Probably due to the massive migraine penetrating Jungkook’s head. Ugh. Why was this all so risky? On the one hand, they knew that whatever they did would work, because Jungkook had already seen Jimin once. But on the other, that meant that they had to follow through with the plan because there was literally no other way. That’s just how time seemed to work. Jungkook stared out of the window, completely lost in his thoughts as the teacher’s voice droned on in the background. He didn’t care about classwork right now. Jimin was his main priority and he- Jimin?  _What is he doing here?_  Jungkook’s eyes became fixated on the recognisable figure walking around outside. Was he… Pacing? Jungkook raised his hand and asked for the bathroom pass, the teacher then agreeing and letting the younger exit, air blowing through his hair due to the speed in which he walked.

The outside was in no way inviting. Clouds littered the skyline and trees danced, relishing in the cold. But none of this mattered. Jimin was here.  _Jungkook’s Jimin_ was here.  
“What… What are you doing here?” Jungkook, despite being surprisingly athletic, breathed as if out of breath.   
“I came to see you.”  
“So we saved you… Right? We really saved you?” He still couldn’t believe his eyes. Despite Jimin being right in front of him, he almost didn’t seem real. He still looked as beautiful as he remembered.  
“Yeah… You did. Thank you,” Jimin said. Something about his tone seemed off though. Jungkook guessed that the only time he’d really  _heard_  Jimin was in the voice recording he left for him. Maybe this was just how he usually spoke? “I’m sorry. I have to go now.” Jimin began to turn away.  
“Wait, what do you mean you have to go? You just got here.” Jungkook didn’t understand. Why come here just to say hi and then immediately leave? “Don’t you want to talk? Or… Something? I don’t know…”   
“If you’re gone for too long, the teacher will be suspicious. You should get back to class.” And with that, the boy was gone. Jungkook put his faith in Jimin. He was probably just making sure everything went well on Jungkook’s end so that they could actually carry the plan out. That  _had_ to be it. That or… Had pretending to be dead and cutting himself off from everyone changed him? Jungkook didn’t want to think he was at blame for this but… He couldn’t help but wonder. He walked back to the classroom, handing the pass back and sitting in his seat once more. The window’s view looked empty now. Dull. He missed Jimin again.

Lunch time came about once again and Jungkook’s mind was still fixated on Jimin. Fixation only increasing the more they discussed what their next course of action was.  
“I mean how do you even change someone's identity? He’d need fake documents that are actually convincing. We’re talking passports, drivers permits, everything. He’d even need to have a whole traceable fake background. There’s no way we can do this.” Taehyung was beginning to panic.  
“Well, clearly we can because we already have… Kind of.” Namjoon continued to flick through a series of notes he had compiled. “Look, it’s either he gets a new identity or has no identity at all and lives cut off from society. Do you think he’d be okay with that? Would  _you_ be okay with that?”  
“If it meant I didn’t die, YEAH,” Taehyung stated.  
“Tae, you need to understand that he most likely won’t even believe us. It’s literally a note. Left in his book. All he’s going to think is, ‘oh, I just had a weird dream. Hmm, what’s this? Yoongi, did you play a prank on me?’ It’s not as simple as just ‘hey, you’re gonna die. You should listen to us.’ Okay?” Namjoon sighed, closing his eyes. “Sorry.” He breathed in before continuing. “I just mean that it shouldn’t be something that scares him off from the plan.” He turned back to his notes and the room fell silent for a moment before Jungkook’s eyes flicked up.  
“Why don’t we ask him?” Jungkook said. “Why don’t we just ask him what happened?” The three exchanged glances.  
“Have you seen him since the roof?” Namjoon asked.  
“Yeah, I saw him a few hours ago. He was wandering around outside and basically just said hi then left.”  
“Holy shit. Then yeah, let’s fucking ask him.” Taehyung shoved the last of his sandwich in his mouth, despite it being too big, and they took off to try and find Jimin together. Time travel was a bitch to work with, but it sure as hell had its advantages.

Jungkook knew something was up with that visit from Jimin. It all made sense now though. He was there to let them know that he was nearby, so that they could find him now. That had to be it. The boys ran out to the same area that Jungkook had seen Jimin prior, but no one populated the area. They stopped in the area and looked around.  
“Okay, well he’s not here. What now?” Taehyung asked.   
“He has to be nearby.” Jungkook ran off, the others following shortly behind. Jungkook seemed to have taken control of the search, him pushing people lightly out of the way as he sped his way through the corridor, the other boys apologising on behalf of him as they tried to keep up. After turning the corner, Jungkook - then Namjoon and Taehyung - came to a halt. Yoongi stood with wide eyes as the group stopped in front of him. “Yoongi… We couldn’t find you earlier, are you okay?” The boy continued to stare, his mind a bit hazy.  
“Uh, yeah. I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.” Yoongi patted Jungkook on the shoulder before continuing to walk past them, each turning out of confusion.  
“Don’t you want to join us?” Jungkook asked. Yoongi paused in his step, not looking back.  
“Um, I’m a bit busy right now, but I’ll catch up with you lot later.” Without waiting for a response, Yoongi walked off, leaving the three alone once again. 

He continued walking through the halls, finding the closet from the night of the shooting. His feet resisted movement for a moment, until finally stepping inside.  _Deep breath in. Deep breath out._  The room felt smaller than he remembered. Whether that was due to him having grown since last being in there, or because of the random chair and additional metal shelving unit now being there, he wasn’t sure. It didn’t matter to him though. The space may have felt smaller, but it was much easier to breathe this time round. He sat on the chair that was awkwardly placed in the room, and reached into his bag, pulling out a flask. Yoongi knew it was bad to be doing this, to be drinking on school grounds, to be giving in to his delusions. But he needed this. He needed the closure. Taking a large gulp of the harsh liquid, he leaned fully into the chair, calling out into the space.   
“I know you’re not real but… If you wanted to show up right about now, that’d be great.” Another large mouthful. Followed by another. “I just want to talk to you… In case I can’t talk to the real you again…” He stared at the wall, eyes more focused on the space in front of it, rather than the wall itself. “Come on. You used to show up whenever even a  _drop_  of alcohol entered my system. Why is it different this time, huh?” He sighed and leaned further back into the chair, sliding down slightly. All he wanted was closure. Was that too much to ask?

 

“He’s not here, Guk,” Namjoon said as the younger paced back and forth.  
“Then why did he show up?!”   
“I don’t know, maybe so he was fresh in your mind. Or hell, maybe he just wanted to see you! It’s been three years for him. It’d make sense!”  
“But then why didn’t he stick around for longer? Why didn’t he stay and have a conversation with me and tell me how the hell we’re meant to do this?!” He inched closer to Namjoon, searching for an answer that the elder just didn’t have. “Seriously, Joon… Why did he leave so fast?”  
“I… I don’t know… I really don’t know.”


	18. 18

 

 

 

18

 

 

Jungkook never used to care much for star gazing. It was cold outside and the stars didn’t exactly move or anything, so what was the point? Why stare at a still image whilst uncomfortable when you could sit on a sofa and play video games instead? But several years later, here Jungkook was. Laying on damp grass, staring up at a dark blue sky swirling with constellations. He wished he could say it was because he had grown up, and had learnt to appreciate the smaller things in life. But really, it was because it made him feel connected to Jimin. Hints of images would paint the insides of Jungkook’s mind. A woman with long black hair holding his hand. Fireworks decorating the sky and an overwhelming sense of happiness. These positive feelings of joy, innocence, and warmth weren’t his own though. They were Jimin’s. Jungkook now understood why Jimin still kept those glow in the dark star stickers above his bed. It was because it reminded him of better times. A childhood uncorrupted by death and pain. A Mother who wasn’t afraid to love him. And the pure essence of calm seeping through his bones and into his heart. Jimin had lost so much and Jungkook only had a sense of that loss without knowing the context as to why. But as he stared at the patterns above him, it was as if everything connected in place. And understanding only found from being the one to experience such things. It felt as if he had lived two whole lives. Was this what it felt like to have a soulmate? Before Jungkook’s thoughts could develop further, a presence made its way over to where the young boy lay. The presence came into view, laying down next to him and spoke.  
“I’ve always loved the stars.”  
“I know… I can feel it.” Jungkook looked over to the boy next to him, whos eyes shined possibly brighter than any of the stars above. He truly looked beautiful in the natural light of the night time. A piece of art for only Jungkook to see.  
“What?” He giggled, turning to face Jungkook. Jungkook looked away embarrassed.  
“Nothing, nothing…”  
“You can tell me.” Jungkook looked at Jimin, the contagious smile spreading onto his own face.  
“I’m not crazy, right?” Jungkook started. “You feel it too… Don’t you?” Jimin looked back up to the sky.  
“I feel… A lot right now… It’s honestly kind of overwhelming.” He turned to Jungkook again, “but I like it. It feels… Safe.” Jimin turned to look at the stars again but Jungkook couldn’t draw his eyes away from the boy beside him. It was so strange to see him so up close and personal, but it was nice at the same time. He looked ethereal and too good to be true, Jungkook thought. Serenity filled the air, both enjoying the silence in each others company, and both enjoying their respective views.   
Suddenly Jungkook loved star gazing.

Home sweet home. After Jungkook’s interaction with Jimin, he felt a lot better. Jimin was alive. Jimin was…  _Really alive._  And not just in the literal sense. Something about him shone. He was like an amalgamation of all things sweet and pure in the world, tinted by a dark past yet strong enough to get through it all by himself. He was animated and iridescent and pretty. My  _God_  he was so pretty. Jungkook found his mind lingering on Jimin, and how badly he wanted to see him again. But at the same time, his bed looked extremely inviting, and enticed him closer and closer until his head hit the pillow and comfort surrounded his being. A voiced echoed, singing a tune, one unfamiliar to the boy now resting in his bed. The voice contained a lot of reverb and sounded as though being heard from within a church. Yet, Jungkook was in his bedroom. How was he hearing this voice? There was no way it was coming from inside the house, but it sounded so vibrant and real. As though it were right in front of him. Jungkook laid in his bed, soaking in the sound, and welcoming the voice floating around the room.  _Jimin_. The voice - although Jungkook had never heard him sing before - was undoubtedly belonging to Jimin. Was he singing right now? Is that how Jungkook was hearing it? He shut his eyes, letting the melody take over and sink into his mind as he drifted off to sleep, still in the same clothes as before, and still thinking of the one and only Park Jimin.

Jungkook opened his eyes.  _No stars_. Part of him longed to switched with Jimin again, even though he knew it wasn’t time. Could they even switch in the present day? He wasn’t sure. A deep sigh emitted from Jungkook as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. Another boring day. He stood up from his bed, stretching his arms above his head and tilting his head from side to side in an attempt to crack his neck. He’d felt so empty ever since he stopped switching with Jimin. Which didn’t make sense in Jungkook’s mind.  _Okay, but I’m actually seeing him in person now. Shouldn’t this feel better?_  Maybe it was because he was yet to actually save Jimin on his end? He wasn’t sure. It wasn’t as if this body switching soulmate business came with a manual. Although that would be extremely helpful, Jungkook thought to himself. He grabbed a comfy t-shirt from the floor, switching it with the one he was already wearing, before making his way downstairs.

Where sounds from the kitchen would usually fill the air, this time silence lay throughout the space instead. Jungkook approached the kitchen-joined-living room area and halted when he saw Jimin sat on the sofa, posture held perfectly.  
“Jimin?” The boy looked in his direction. “What are you doing here?”  
“I miss you, Jungkook…” Jimin spoke in a hushed tone, almost sounding disconnected from everything around him.  
“I-I’m right here.” Jungkook rushed over to the sofa, sitting besides the boy close to tears.  
“I really. Really, fucking miss you.” Jimin flickered his eyes to look directly into Jungkook’s.  
“Like I said… I’m right here.” Jungkook reached his hand out, aiming to rest on Jimin’s thigh as a comforting gesture, but before he could, Jimin jumped up.  
“I need to go.”  
“What? Why-”  
“I shouldn’t be here.”  
“Wha- Jimin?-”  
“I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be here.” He turned to Jungkook again. “I shouldn’t be here, Jungkook. Why did you do this to me? I don’t belong here. I wasn’t meant to be brought back. I shouldn’t be here. Why couldn’t you let me die? Why couldn’t you just let me die? WHY COULDN’T YOU JUST LET ME DIE?”

Jungkook’s eyes flickered open.  _Oh._  His breathing began to slow down.  _It was just a dream._ He looked up towards the ceiling...  
 _No stars._

 


	19. 19

 

 

19

 

 

School had never been something that Yoongi enjoyed. Honestly, he’d go as far to say that he hated it. The only thing that ever made the day easier to get through was seeing his friends. But after the shooting… He had no friends left to see. The school shut down for a week after the shooting, giving people time to adjust and grieve, but after that week, and an assembly addressing the situation and listing all the lives lost, everything went back to normal. Lessons continued and, despite a few, the teachers didn’t seem to be affected by what had happened and continued teaching the lessons that would be forgotten in years later down the line. School felt empty without his three best friends. It was already hard enough for him since he was in several classes the others weren’t, but now he couldn’t even find comfort and escape in them during breaks. He was alone.

It didn’t take long for Yoongi to start trying to find other ways to escape. It started off with little things such as watching videos in class, and skipping classes to go for a walk while listening to music. At one point he even got into producing and writing his own music, putting all his thoughts down on paper and creating a beat to accompany the way his heart felt. This outlet helped for a while. It allowed him to clear his mind while being creative without burdening anyone. Until his laptop broke. The tool which he had been using to heal himself through music had broken and he couldn’t afford a new one, not by a long shot. He continued writing the music down though, and instead began composing on the piano. That’s when he heard the voice.  
“It’s beautiful.” Yoongi’s fingers froze, hovering above the keys. He looked around but there was no one there. His jaw clenched before he continued playing, shaking the voice out of his head. “I wish you would have gotten into music sooner.” He froze again. “Maybe we could have made a song together.” Yoongi didn’t know where the voice was coming from, but he knew it wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. He shut the fall-board of the piano and got up, rushing out the music room, bumping shoulders with Mrs. Ong on the way out. The teacher watched as the boy hurried away, eyes soft and curious as to the sudden exit. He was fine a second ago. What happened?

Yoongi sped walked out of the building, clutching his bag against his body tight as he began to shake slightly and tears sat in his eyes, slowly trying to crawl their way out. “I miss you, hyung.” Yoongi stopped in his tracks. The tears he’d been bottling up over the past month finally broke free and the boy collapsed down onto his knees, letting his emotions take over him. “Don’t cry, hyung.”  
“Shut up. Just shut up. Please,” Yoongi whispered into the air.  
“I don’t like seeing you upset.”  
“Stop talking. You’re not real, I know you’re not.” Yoongi’s hands clutched at his head. “Please go away.”  
“I don’t want to leave you, hyung.”  
“FUCK!” Yoongi cried more before standing up and putting his earphones in, blasting music at full volume. He really wasn’t in the mood for upbeat rap, but all he wanted was to drown out the voice torturing his mind. He walked forward, unsure of where he was going, knowing that he couldn’t go home without being asked questions. He didn’t want to worry his parents again. When his Mother had heard about how Yoongi got when she was hospitalised, it broke her heart. Yoongi couldn’t do that to her again. He just couldn’t. The music was so loud it felt like it was piercing into Yoongi’s brain.  
“Please turn it down, hyung.” Yoongi paused mid-step, eyes darting around. “I don’t want you damaging your ears.” Yoongi ripped out the earphones. Of course it didn’t fucking work. Why would it? He looked to his left. He had stopped right by a row of convenience stores. Without thinking about his actions, he went inside one of them. He just wanted to distract himself. Looking through the candy and snacks, he picked up a few pieces here and there, being cautious of the overall cost. As he reached the back of the store he saw rows and rows of alcohol. He looked at the food in his hands and back at the bottles and cans staring back at him. He grabbed a bottle of cheap cider, then looked a row higher where a selection of vodkas and whiskeys stood proud. He put the cider back and then the snacks he’d spent time selecting before returning to the drinks. He grabbed a bottle of cheap beer, a bottle of soju, and with hesitation grabbed one of the cheaper bottles of vodka. “What are you doing, hyung?” Yoongi closed his eyes before opening them again and making his way to the till. He knew this place hardly ever carded people. That’s why so many students went here. But that didn’t stop him from holding his breath as he put the abundance of alcohol on the till point and waited for them all to get scanned through.  
“Do you need a bag?”  
“Um. Yes, yes please,” Yoongi responded. The cashier placed the various bottles in the bag and handed it to Yoongi who handed back cash as an exchange. Once receiving his change, he sped out of the store and back into the harsh air of the outside. He breathed heavily and marched his way to a large field he knew was nearby.

The field had been left unattended for quite some time, grass overgrown and messy from footsteps of people taking shortcuts to get to their destinations. Yoongi sighed as he looked around. What was he doing?  
“Hyung-”  
“STOP!” Yoongi yelled. “Just… Stop…” He sat down making a new dent in the grass and unpacked the bottles he had bought.  _Shit._  He didn’t have any glasses. He unscrewed the bottle cap of the beer and drank straight from the bottle, drinking about a quarter in one go. He then unscrewed the soju bottle as well, filling up the space of the beer bottle with the stronger liquid before swishing the bottle around in an attempt to mix the two. He took a swig of the concoction and grimaced at the disbalance in amounts.  _Whatever. It’ll get the job done._  He drank more as he took out his phone again, putting on some slower more lo-fi sounding music. It wasn’t the usual music he listened to, but something about this album spoke to him.

About twenty-five minutes had passed and the album had finished, as had the beer plus soju mixture. Instead, Yoongi had moved on to drinking soju on it’s own, now about half way through. He wasn’t by any means drunk, but his head was certainly starting to feel something. The voice hadn’t interrupted him since he started drinking, which only encouraged him to drink further. He continued drinking in silence, taking in the nature around him as the sky started turning gray, weather gradually getting worse with every sip. A bottle of soju and a few sips of vodka later, and Yoongi was drunk. At least he wasn’t being tormented anymore…  
“Why are you doing this to yourself?”  _No, no, no, not again._  “Is it because of me?” Yoongi looked around and felt everything in him go numb when he saw Jimin standing before him. “Hyung. Is it because of me?” He asked again. Yoongi didn’t respond and instead stood horrified. A pattern of feeling upset, drinking, seeing Jimin, and drinking some more ensued on the daily. Yoongi was just so  _sick_  of being alone. And when the alcohol entered his system… He wasn’t alone anymore. Or at least it felt that way.

This version of Jimin didn’t feel real by any means, it was as if someone had made an AI based off him and just horribly fucked up. But Yoongi didn’t care. He just wanted to see him again. So he spent the next three months drunk. Only stopping once caught crying, drinking, and talking to the air in front of him in the empty theatre hall by a teacher who insisted he got help. Then started the therapy. The rehab. The months of mental breakdowns and self destruction with adults trying to stitch the broken pieces of him together. He couldn’t move on. He refused. Yoongi quickly sobered up, so he could get out of rehab and start the horrible cycle of drinking, crying, and drinking some more all over again. It devastated his parents, seeing him like this, and he knew it. He knew he was a disappointment. He knew he had fucked up. He knew that nothing good could come out of his life anymore. He’d lost the people closest to him and couldn’t help but feel like it should have been him instead.  
 _It should have been him instead._

 

Taehyung didn’t ask what it was. He could already tell. But that didn’t stop him staring from the other side of the sofa. Yoongi looked up briefly from his notebook and noticed the staring, quickly pulling his sleeve down.  
“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”  
“It’s fine, it’s fine.” Yoongi’s body went slightly stiff as he shrunk in on himself. “I’m just… I’m so used to being alone now that I forget other people aren’t used to seeing it…” The two fell silent, the dust in the air of Taehyung’s room settling around them.  
“Why’d you do it?” Taehyung asked quietly. “I-If you- if you don’t mind me asking… Of course…” Yoongi looked up at him, swallowing before looking back down, not wanting to see the pity in the younger’s eyes.  
“I…” He breathed in deep. “I couldn’t live knowing that… That if I hadn’t turned back. Fuck.” He fluttered his eyes, preventing tears from fully emerging. “The reason that Jimin… Or… I guess Jungkook… The reason he got shot was because I turned back and looked at Hoseok and Seokjin’s bodies…” He looked back to Taehyung who was listening intently. “If I didn’t look back… If I didn’t look back, he wouldn’t have got shot. I blamed myself or it.”  
“I’m sorry…”  
“It’s fine… I mean.” He scoffed. “It’s not fine, but… When I was in the hospital… I was glad it didn’t work. I mean, I still felt like shit but… But I didn’t want to die. Not really.” Yoongi shuffled awkwardly in his seat before coughing. “Besides. I started doing some reflecting on the whole event and… I then realised the whole switching body situation. Then I just became resentful of whoever this kid from the future was. And now that I’ve met him… I kind of get it.” Yoongi shrugged and Taehyung nodded achknowlegingly.  
“I’m glad it didn’t work either,” Taehyung said. He let a soft smile work it’s way onto his face as the two looked at each other genuinely. There seemed to be an understanding between the two. Despite both experiences with loss being somewhat different, they both shared the same pain. Yoongi looked back to his notes he’d been curating as Taehyung continued to look at the elder.  
“I think I have it all planned out.” Taehyung’s eyes widened at Yoongi’s words.  
“Really? Like, everything?”  
“Yeah, every last detail. I went through every note on my phone, every picture, every video. Even the occasional diary entry I tried to keep and I even asked my therapist for the notes of my sessions. She was… Extremely hesitant, but I told her it was to help me reflect on who I was and how far I’ve come, etcetera, etcetera.” He closed the notebook and handed it to Taehyung. “Everything you guys should need is in here.” Taehyung took the book and flicked through the pages, seeing nearly all pages covered in notes with dates and times. Yoongi’s hand halted the younger’s movements as he looked into his eyes. “If you do a single thing wrong. It could cause the universe to collapse in on itself. It has to be done to the exact minute. The exact word. Everything.” Taehyung’s jaw clenched as his eyes remained wide. “You got that?” Yoongi asked. Taehyung nodded in response, swallowing the saliva that had accumulated in his mouth. “Good.” Yoongi stood up from his seat and grabbed his bag, ready to leave the room.  
“Wait. Don’t you want to stay a bit longer?” Taehyung said.  
“Why would I? You have the notes. We’re done.”  
“But…” Taehyung looked around awkwardly, not wanting to make a fool of himself. Yoongi stood, bag strap in hand as it hung from his shoulder. Was this kid ever going to spit it out? “I think you’re cool…” Yoongi froze.  
“What?”  
“I think you’re cool and I want to spend more time with you…” Taehyung avoided eye contact with the older boy. Unaware of how his jaw tightened and his body started to turn away.  
“Don’t lie. I don’t like it when people lie.” Yoongi began walking out the door, Taehyung jumping up from his bed and quickly following.  
“What are you on about? I’m not lying.”  
“Yes, you are. You just feel sorry for me and feel like you have some moral obligation to be around me.” Yoongi didn’t stop in his step, eyes fixated on the door ahead of him leading out into the crowd of students.  
“That’s not true, hyung…” Taehyung continued to follow until Yoongi reached the door, hand firm on the handle as it opened.  
“I’m not your hyung.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final update next Friday - Chapters 20, 21, 22, and 23, all in one go <3


	20. 20

 

 

20

 

“I have to memorise all this?!” Jungkook exclaimed. Taehyung and Namjoon stood in front of him, both with their arms crossed.  
“It’s the only way, Guk,” Namjoon said. Jungkook looked at the notebook Taehyung had handed him, and shook his head.  
“How am I meant to remember all this? This is ridiculous! Where even  _is_  Yoongi anyway?”  
“I… I don’t know. He’s been really weird recently,” Taehyung answered.  
“This is bullshit. I’m going to find him.” Jungkook shoved the notebook towards Taehyung’s chest before storming out of the room and down the hall. He marched past various students, disregarding the stares he got in return. “MIN YOONGI! WHERE ARE YOU, YOU SON OF A BITCH?!” He spotted a gray beanie peeking out from behind a locker and strode up to it, closing the locker’s door with a loud slam. “You’re telling me that if I can’t remember this word for fucking word, then the universe could fucking COLLAPSE?!” Jungkook yelled. Yoongi rolled his neck, glaring at the younger in front of him. “How am I meant to remember this word for word?! Are you kidding me?! Is this some sick JOKE?!”  
“No, Jungkook. You know what’s a sick fucking joke? You lot calling me hyung constantly even though you hardly fucking know me.” Yoongi practically spat at the younger before turning around, walking away from the conversation.  
“What the fuck is your problem?!” Jungkook yelled down the hall. Students had begun to watch, curious as to what was happening between the two this time. Yoongi turned back, storming close to Jungkook, noses practically touching.  
“My problem is that you’ve already fucked things up once by getting Jimin killed in the first place, and now you’re trying to fuck it up again.” Jungkook tightened his jaw, and shoved the older back.  
“I’m not  _trying_  to do anything except SAVE HIM!” He shoved Yoongi again, a sickening smile twisting it’s way onto Yoongi’s face.  
“Please. You failed once. All you’re going to do is fail again.” Yoongi chuckled. “You know, people say that you’re talented at a lot of things.” He stepped a bit closer. “But if you ask me, your only real talent is letting people down. First your Dad. And now Jimin.”  
“Don’t mention my Dad,” Jungkook warned.  
“Why not?? You still not over him leaving your ass for being a flaming homo? At least I can still date a girl if I choose. Your parents are stuck with you never being able to continue the family tree.”  
“You shut your Goddamn mouth-”  
“Or what?” Yoongi stepped even closer. “Or you’ll hit me?” He got up in Jungkook’s face intimidatingly. “I’d like to see you try.”  
“I’m not ashamed of who I am.”  
“Your diary indicates differently.” Jungkook scrunched his nose as his eyebrows furrowed. “Jimin used to talk about you so Goddamn much, I practically know everything about you by now. Which is why I know you’re not a hero. You’re a fuck up just like me. Jimin’s gone, and it’s all your fault-”  
“SHUT UP!” Jungkook pushed the elder back.  
“Is that all you got? Come on pretty boy, hit me! Fucking hit me! Make me bleed just like you made Jimin!” Jungkook tried resisting only for him to charge at him and tackle Yoongi to the ground. The two fought for a while but Yoongi only giving half of his effort. Students backed up, giving the two space whilst also staying to watch. Various exclamations could be heard, ranging from ‘oh shit’ to ‘should I get a teacher?’ Namjoon and Taehyung ran out upon hearing the commotion and panicked. Jungkook straddled Yoongi’s abdomen and punched hard against his cheek several times, blood beginning to spit out from the elder’s mouth. Namjoon and Taehyung stood in horror at the scene in front of him.  
“ALL I WANTED WAS TO HELP!” Jungkook gripped Yoongi’s shirt in his hands as he yelled at the beaten male.  
“And look how well that turned out,” Yoongi mumbled, spitting out blood. Namjoon ran onto the scene, grabbing Jungkook by the back of his collar, pulling him back.  
“Jungkook!” Jungkook’s eyes were full of something dark. Namjoon had never seen him like this and he’d be lying if he said it didn’t scare him slightly. “Stop,” he whispered. Jungkook looked back at Yoongi lying on the ground, a sickening smile plastered onto his face and blood staining his teeth.  
“I’ll work on memorising it.” Jungkook shook Namjoon’s hand off and walked towards Taehyung with his hand out. Taehyung placed the notebook into Jungkook’s hand, watching as he walked away, flinching at the younger’s movement past him. Namjoon turned to the students who had gathered to watch.  
“Don’t you have classes to walk to or something? Seriously, go.” The students looked at each other briefly before walking off in different directions. Taehyung wandering off to find Jungkook again. Namjoon looked at Yoongi on the ground. “Are you okay?”  
“Why do you care,” he spat.  
“Because you’re my friend.”  
“Fuck off.” Namjoon looked to the side, seeing the last of the students scramble away.  
“I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you… Back then.” Yoongi laughed again.  
“I think my friend was switching bodies with someone from the future. I think the guy, Jungkook, that he liked was from the future and switched with him before he died.” Yoongi mocked his past self with his voice before shaking his head. “You didn’t even think to mention that you knew a Jungkook.”  
“Yeah, because I thought you were crazy.”  
“How about now?” He stared at Namjoon, a crazed look in his eye to match the painfully wide cartoon of a grin stretched across his face.  
“Now, I’m just worried.”  
“I was so pissed off when I found out you were all buddy-buddy with the guy who got Jimin killed.”  
“Really? Because Tae told me you blame yourself.” He folded his arms as Yoongi began to sit up. “What happened to that, huh? Why are you back to hating Jungkook? You know what he’s going through, and he’s just a kid for Christs sake!”  
“Oh please, you’re only a few years older than him.”  
“The fuck happened to you?” Namjoon started. “You were doing so well-”  
“Was I?” Yoongi laughed, wiping blood from his lip. “You don’t know what was going through my head.” He stood up. “You don’t know that I’m drinking again. Hell you didn’t even know I had a drinking problem before. You don’t know that I used to see Jimin every time I drank, and you don’t know that it hurts me because I’ve only seen him once since I started drinking again.”  
“Wha- Hyung-”  
“You never knew that my Sister moved away. You never knew that I went to rehab  _again_. And you never knew that I became fucking terrified of myself because I didn’t even recognise who I had become!  
“Hyu-”  
“Because you never called!” Namjoon stood silent as Yoongi’s eyes became softer. “You never called… You called the ambulance and then you never bothered to check up on me.” The two looked at each other, the hall around them completely empty. “I didn’t come back to school for a year and you never thought to make sure if I was alive or not. And that’s on you.” He pushed Namjoon lightly with his finger. “I know we didn’t know each other well but… After the shooting you were all I had.” He looked directly into Namjoon’s eyes. “We’re not  _friends_ , Namjoon. I wouldn’t put that burden on you again.” With those final words, Yoongi left Namjoon alone to soak in the aftermath of the conversation.  
 _Fuck_.

Taehyung walked through the hall, looking into classrooms that he passed by, stumbling across a cupboard with the door open ever so slightly. He peered inside and saw none other than Jeon Jungkook sat on the floor, looking around, deep in thought.  
“Jungkook?” He entered the space slowly, taking in the somewhat small proximity. “What are you doing in here?” Jungkook looked at Taehyung with sadness in his eyes, his knuckles throbbing in pain.  
“This is where they hid. I switched with Jimin when it was just him and Yoongi left. I should have just stayed in here.” He looked at the notebook in his hand. “I know that it works, but… It just feels like so much pressure to get to that point.”  
“I can help you, if you’d like,” Taehyung offered. “It’d be like that one time we tried to study all over again.” They both chuckled softly, the air still serious around them.”Are you okay though? You kind of scared me back there…”  
“Yeah, I- I’m fine, I just… It’s a lot of responsibility, that’s all.” Jungkook was right. It  _was_  a lot of responsibility. He’d already seen Jimin, several times now, so he knew that everything panned out according to plan. But that didn’t mean that he didn’t have to try. If anything, it meant that he had to try even harder. The already predetermined success was in Jungkook’s hands now, and it was nerve wracking to say the least. Failing literally wasn’t an option.  
“Come on. We can make some flash cards and act things out. Whatever you need to make sure we get this right.” Taehyung held out his hand to the younger who immediately took it, smile on his face.  
“Thanks, hyung.”

 


	21. 21

 

21

 

The warmth of the water was meant to be relaxing. But, right now, the last thing that Jungkook was, was relaxed. School had finished for the winter break and throughout the entire break, Jungkook had been focusing on remembering every detail about the date he had to switch with Jimin.  
“Look around. Yoongi-hyung. Look around. Write,” Jungkook recited to himself. “Jimin. It’s important that you read this note in its entirety.” Jungkook sighed and tilted his head back, letting the water rinse over his face. “It’s important that you read this note in its entirety, as it may be a life or death situation. That dream you had.” He wiped his face with his hands. “That dream you had with Kim Namjoon and Kim Taehyung. It wasn’t a dream.” He looked ahead as he blinked the water out of his eyes. “And deep down… Deep down, you know that.”

It was difficult for Jungkook to enjoy Christmas day. He tried but with Jimin and the 3rd of January on his mind, it became almost impossible. It had become a tradition that he and Taehyung would spend Christmas day together. Christmas was usually celebrated between couples, but they both found themselves single come Christmas every year. With how close they were, it made sense for them to spend the day together instead, and this year was no different.

They reached the ice rink and sat, Taehyung waiting for Jungkook to finish tying his skates.  
“How much do you want to bet that you’re going to be amazing the second you get into the rink?” Taehyung laughed.  
“Nothing, because I already know I will be. I used to go ice skating all the time as a kid,” Jungkook responded.  
“What? I didn’t know that.”  
“You never asked.” Jungkook got up, smiling, and made his way onto the ice, skating away perfectly. A wide eyed, shocked Taehyung was left to catch up, despite having never been on the ice before. As soon as Taehyung got onto the ice, he had to stabilize himself on the side. This was his first time, afterall. Jungkook saw how Taehyung was struggling and skated over to him. “Hold my hand,” he said. Taehyung grabbed his hand and let him guide him around the rink at a slower pace, still surprised at the younger’s skill.  
“How come you never mentioned you’ve done this before?” Taehyung asked.  
“My Dad used to take me. I’ve kind of always avoided bringing him up in conversation, so…” The two skated around, hand in hand as they spoke. The occasional look they received, not phasing them. “I haven’t really done this since I was twelve.” Jungkook laughed somewhat sadly.  
“Well, you’ve certainly retained your skills.”  
“You say that, but I used to be able to do spins and flips and all that stuff. I definitely do  _not_  have the confidence to do that sort of stuff now.”  
“I bet you could still do it,” Taehyung said.  
“No. No way.”  
“Come on! You’re good at  _everything_ , I have no doubt you’ll be good at this too.” The two skated to a halt.  
“Okay, fine.” Jungkook let go of Taehyung’s hand and skated some distance away, waiting for people to skate past. He inhaled a deep breath and closed his eyes, remembering the way it felt when he was younger. He could do this. Of course he could. He opened his eyes and began skating, reaching his arms out, preparing himself for the jump. Swinging his leg back, Jungkook gained the momentum to get himself off of the ground. He span slightly in the air, landing on the leg which was previously held up behind him, skating some more until able to come to a stop.  _I did it._  He looked back to Taehyung with a smile on his face.  
“I’m not going to lie. I thought you were going to fail and I kind of just wanted to see you land on your ass.” Jungkook skated back over, playfully hitting Taehyung on the arm before skating off, the elder chasing after him, stumbling slightly. For a moment, Jungkook was able to forget about everything. He was happy again.

The two walked out in the cold, breath hitting the air and turning into smoke. People could be seen walking as well, hands held or arms linked. Not everyone was a couple. There were several groups of friends and some people with family members, and as the two walked further, one person on their own.  
“Yoongi-hyung?” Jungkook said aloud as the two stopped in their tracks. Yoongi, huddled up in a thick coat and beanie, held a to-go cup of coffee in his hands as he sat on a bench, writing in a notebook. Jungkook stepped towards Yoongi’s location before Taehyung reached out and stopped him. “Why are you stopping me?”  
“He hasn’t spoken to us since school ended. Do you really think it’s a good idea?”  
“Tae, he’s still my friend.”  
“Since when?”  
“Since he saw me get shot.” Taehyung looked down at the ground, remembering the situation they were in.  
“He didn’t see  _you_  get shot. He saw  _Jimin_ get shot.”  
“Except it  _was_ me. Not Jimin. And he knows that now. We relate on some level.”  
“Jungkook.” Taehyung looked the other in the eyes sternly. “The last time you saw him, you beat him up. The fuck do you mean you relate?”  
“Jungkook? Taehyung-ah?” Yoongi called out from the bench as he stood up. “What are you doing here?”  
“We went ice skating,” Taehyung said, avoiding the elders eyes.  
“How come you’re alone?” Jungkook asked.  
“My family’s back in Daegu, and I um… Don’t really have any friends.” Jungkook turned to Taehyung.  
“Do you know if Namjoon’s doing anything?” He half-whispered.  
“He was going to Ilsan but his train got cancelled so I don’t know.”  
“Call him. Maybe we could hang out, the four of us.” He looked at the others to gage their approval of the situation. “It’d be nice for us to spend time together where we’re not talking about time travel.” He laughed to ease the tension and saw Yoongi nod in response.  
“Yeah. I’d like that.”

“I thought it was because of me! I thought they were going to be like ‘ _Can the man who just broke the foldable table on the back of the seat please exit the vehicle._ ’ I was terrified!” The others laughed as Namjoon told his story, voices loud against everyone else’s in the bar. “But, it was just them telling us there was a ‘ _disturbance on the track_ ’ so the train was cancelled.” He shrugged.  
“What kind of disturbance?” Taehyung asked as he sipped from his apple juice. Namjoon glanced at Yoongi for a second, their eyes meeting.  
“Uh, I’m not sure.” Yoongi chuckled out a puff of air as he realised what that meant. He did know. And it wasn’t exactly something you’d want to bring up on Christmas day. Especially not whilst Yoongi was there. Taehyung finished his apple juice and looked to Namjoon.  
“So. Hyung.” He leant across the table and started speaking a bit quieter. “As our designated parent of the group-”  
“I did not agree to that.”  
“How would you feel about us getting some  _real_  drinks.” Taehyung waited in anticipation at the elders response. Namjoon looked towards Yoongi before looking back.  
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He started. “Besides, none of us can legally buy alcohol anyway.”  
“I can,” Taehyung chirped.  
“No, you can’t?”  
“Well…  _I_  can’t, but uh…” He reached into his pocket, pulling out his wallet and holding up a card. “Kim Jaebin can.” He smiled as he presented the card to people.  
“You have a fake ID?” Namjoon asked disapprovingly.  
“Yup.”  
“Since when?” Jungkook asked.  
“Since I went clubbing with Minyung.” He put the card back into his wallet and raised his eyebrows at the others, smirk on his face.  
“We’re not getting alcohol,” Namjoon persisted.  
“But hyung-” Taehyung began.  
“Since I’m the oldest here, shouldn’t I technically be the parent?” Yoongi chimed in, leaning his body over the table slightly. “And I say I’m all for it.” Namjoon looked at Yoongi, slight anger in his eyes. “Come on. Let the kid use his ID.” Yoongi leaned back and crossed his arms, challenging Namjoon.  
“No. We’re not getting alcohol.”  
“Come on, you can’t tell me you don’t want to see Jungkook and Taehyung drunk.”  
“It’s not them I’m worried about. You-” Namjoon stopped himself and continued in a much quieter calmer tone. “You know it’s not a good idea.” Yoongi reached into his wallet and pulled out a fifty-thousand won note. He handed it in Taehyung’s direction.  
“Get a round for the table. Hyung’ll pay.” Taehyung looked at the note and then at Namjoon as if asking for his permission. “Don’t look at him. It’s my money, and I’m giving you permission to get alcohol with it.” Taehyung took the note slowly and got up to go to the bar, avoiding eye contact with Namjoon. Namjoon glared holes into the side of Yoongi’s head, who turned his head to face him. “What?”  
“I can’t watch you do this to yourself. I’m sorry.” Namjoon stood up, leaving the table and exiting the building, Jungkook watching in shock.  
“H-Hyung-,” Jungkook started. He looked between Yoongi and Namjoon as if deciding where to go, before getting up and following Namjoon out of the door. Yoongi watched the younger as Taehyung made his way back to the table and sat down.  
“Where are they going?”

The air was even crisper than before as Jungkook ran out to chase after his hyung. His coat had been left inside, making the boy shiver as the temperature penetrated his skin even more.  
“Hyung, wait!” Jungkook called. The elder’s footsteps came to a halt as he heard the younger’s voice, not wanting to leave him and potentially make him feel bad as well. “What was that?” Namjoon sighed.  
“Yoongi-hyung has a drinking problem,” Namjoon stated. Jungkook blinked as he processed the information. “That’s why he’s been acting up recently, he relapsed. I just want to help him but it seems like he doesn’t even  _want_  help this time.” Namjoon huddled his hands in his pockets as he looked at his feet below him.  
“This time?” Namjoon turned around to face the younger who now had scrunched up brows and an open mouth. “You already knew him… Didn’t you?” Jungkook asked.  
“Jungkook-”  
“He’s the one you mentioned when I was first telling you about the dreams… Wasn’t he?”  
“Jungkook, I-”  
“Holy shit. All this time, you knew.” Jungkook stepped back, hurt on his face. “You knew Jimin was going to die, didn’t you?” Namjoon stayed silent. “DIDN’T YOU?!” Jungkook’s breathing became uneven as Namjoon looked at him, trying to find the words to say.  
“Okay, yeah… I knew.”  
“You kept trying to stop me from saving him… You could have HELPED!”  
“I couldn’t and you know it.” Namjoon closed his eyes, ashamed at the anger rising in his voice.  
“Why didn’t you tell me? Why did you let me suffer?”  
“I never wanted you to suffer, Guk-”  
“I fell in love with him. And you let me. You let me fall for him… Even though you knew I’d have to find out he died-”  
“It’s not as simple as that, okay? I wasn’t sure that the two stories lined up until closer to the time, I didn’t-”  
“Well, it doesn’t matter now. Does it?” Jungkook let his teeth chatter in the cold as tears welled up in his eyes. “We still manage to save him in the end anyway… No thanks to you.”  
“No thanks to me? If it wasn’t for me, you and Tae would have probably destroyed the space time continuum by now.” Jungkook stared at Namjoon, his last words lingering in his mind.  
“You know what? Fuck you. Merry fucking Christmas, you prick.” Jungkook stormed back into the bar, grabbing his things and leaving before Taehyung and Yoongi could stop him.  
“Jungkook-ah-” Taehyung was completely ignored. “Where are you going?!” He called out. But no response came as the younger stormed out, leaving the two confused and with no explanation. “What’s wrong with him?” Taehyung asked, sipping his drink, slightly wincing at the taste.  
“Fuck knows.”

Yoongi’s voice had gotten more rough sounding as the night went on, the alcohol clearly affecting him in a negative way, but not being noticed by the also intoxicated Taehyung. The two stayed at the bar, talking and exchanging stories, as more and more of the substances inhabited their digestive systems. Namjoon had presumably gone home and Jungkook hadn’t returned since his disappearing act several hours ago. Which left Yoongi and Taehyung alone, and drunk.  
“How come you never tried to convince Jungkook that he shouldn’t be with Jimin? That’s what I would have done.” The question caught Taehyung off guard, but he had an answer nonetheless.  
“I wish I could say that it’s because I care more about his happiness than my own, but… Honestly, I just found out too late for me to do anything about it. He told me literally before he went back to the shooting.”  
“Jesus. He didn’t even give you any time to process it?”  
“Not even a second. But Namjoon had brought up the idea before, I just never believed him. I thought it was too far fetched, but uh… Turned out to be true.”  
“Namjoon’s known for ages,” Yoongi said.  
“What do you mean?”  
“I told him about it when I realised for myself that they had been switching places.”  
“Wait, you and Namjoon know each other?” The two stared at each other.  
“Yeah. He came up to me when he heard what happened and… I don’t know. He stuck around for a while. Until he had to call an ambulance on me and I proved too much to handle. Then he never showed up again.” Yoongi drank the rest of his drink down in one go, standing up to get another.  
“Hyung… I mean… Yoongi,” Taehyung started. “Maybe we should just go home.”  
“What, and have me face my parents? No thanks.” Yoongi turned to walk again, Taehyung grabbing his arm to stop him in his movements.  
“You can come to mine.” Yoongi stopped. “My Mom’s at her group therapy tonight and is staying round a friend’s. No parents.” Yoongi hesitated before realising it was the best option he had.  
“Sure. Let’s go.” He threw on his jacket and started leaving, Taehyung quickly following behind him before needing to take the lead to walk the elder to his house.

To say Jungkook was fuming, would be an understatement. His chest heaved and he walked as fast as he could without turning it into a run. The strap of his bag dug into his shoulder and all he wanted was to scream. He wanted to scream into the rooftops and let all his frustrations and anger out. If Namjoon had told him, this all could have played out differently. He wouldn’t have had to go through the heartbreak of finding out Jimin was dead, he would have known before a connection would have been made and he could have distanced himself from the situation altogether. Or at least that’s what he thought. He ran into the streets and screamed. No one was around, so he decided he might as well.  
“WHY! WHY DID THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN TO ME?! WHAT DO YOU GET FROM THIS?!” He screamed into the air, not knowing who the questions were aimed at, and stared into the empty night sky. He scoffed to himself. “No stars… I can’t even find comfort in that right now.” He sighed and turned around, stopping when his path was blocked.  
“Everything happens for a reason, Jungkook.”  _Jimin._ “There’s no point being angry about it. You save me… Right?” Why was he even questioning it? Of course Jungkook saves him?  
“How did you find me?” Jungkook asked. Jimin paused for a second, looking up at the stars and back to the boy looking at him.  
“Fate?”  
“Promise you won’t leave just yet?”  
“I can’t promise that. I… I’m not in control of it.”  
“In control of what?”  
“... Anything.”  
“Why are you acting like this?” Jungkook asked.  
“Like what?”  
“Like… THIS! All mysterious and shit! I’m sick of it!” He snapped. “We’ve had, what? Maybe  _one_  proper conversation. I… I want to be able to actually spend time with you. Get to know you the same way any other person would, rather than this weird soul connection we have.” He stared at the boy in front of him. “Don’t you get that? Don’t you want that too?” Jimin looked to the ground.  
“Of course I do. It’s just not that simple-”  
“The fuck do you mean it’s not that simple?!” Jungkook took a step closer, causing Jimin to immediately step back. Did Jungkook scare him? “Jimin!” Another step forward. Another step back. “Jimin, please just-” And again. Jungkook stood still watching the boy. “Jimin?!”  
“I have to go.” Jimin turned around and started walking.  
“WILL YOU STOP SAYING THAT!” Jimin stopped in his tracks before turning to face the younger.  
“I’m sorry, okay? But I can’t be here for you in the way that you want me to be. I just can’t.”  
“Why not? We save you. You’re living evidence of that.” Jimin looked towards the floor, his eyes glossing over with tears. “Jimin, just… Just talk to me. Please.”  
“I can’t.”  
“What do you mean you can’t? You’re right here.”  
“No… I’m not.” Jungkook froze.  
“What?”  
“I’m not  _here_ , Jungkook. You  _know_  I’m not. Not… Not really.” Jimin sighed. “It’s complicated, okay? And… And painful.” Jimin looked into Jungkook’s eyes which showed nothing but confusion at the words being said.  
“What the hell are you on about?”  
“Just… Don’t worry about it.”  
“No, consider me worried. What the hell are you on about? Painful?”  
“I…” Jimin started. “I’m a cat.” Jungkook blinked.  
“What?”  
“I’m a cat trapped in a box, and you’re the one that has to open it, okay? I can’t say anything more than that. I’m physically fucking INCAPABLE of saying anything else, I don’t…” The air in Jimin’s lungs pressed against his chest. “I don’t even understand it myself. And I really don’t want to. It’s… It’s fucking terrifying if I’m honest.” Jungkook stepped towards Jimin, him not backing away this time.  
“I’m so confused, but… I can see you’re in pain. I’m so sorry for doing this to you-”  
“It wasn’t you-”  
“I should have listened to Yoongi-hyung and stayed put. You would have been safer-”  
“Jungkook, it wasn’t your fault.” They looked into each others eyes, the light from the moon reflecting creating tiny pools of light kissing their irises.  _Stars..._  “It was just how it happened. You need to understand that. You need to- You need to let go.”  
“I’m not going to let go.” Jungkook reached his hand to Jimin’s cheek, pausing when contact was made. The two became silent. “I can’t feel you,” Jungkook said. He desperately touched Jimin’s other cheek with his second hand. “I thought… I thought I’d feel sparks or something when I touched you for the first time but… But there’s nothing, I-”  
“Jungkook.” Tears welled in his eyes as he grabbed Jungkook’s hands from off his face. “You need to let go.”


	22. 22

 

22

 

“Watch out for the-” Taehyung started before being interrupted by Yoongi tripping through the entrance of his house. “Step.”  
“Thanks for the warning,” Yoongi groaned. Yoongi looked at his surroundings immediately confused as to why the door lead them into the kitchen. “Why are we already in the kitchen? Who the hell designed your house?”  
“Oh, we had to come through the back door. I lost the key to the front, so...” Taehyung shrugged not being phased by his situation. The two walked through the tiny space, Yoongi trying hard not to hit his shoulders on any of the utensils hanging from hooks on the walls, as they made their way out through the doorway and into the lounge. It was small and cosy, very different from what Yoongi was used to, and Taehyung lead him to the sofa where the two fell in relief almost straight away. Yoongi moved his head to face Taehyung with a grin.  
“Don’t suppose your parents have any alcohol?”  
“Probably, but I think maybe we should have some delicious, nutritious, healthy, good ol’ water. Don’t you?” Yoongi grimaced at Taehyung’s words, before the younger was already up and heading towards the kitchen. Yoongi sighed as he looked around, taking in the decor around him. Warm tones of red covered the walls, curtains, and sofa, with a lighter wood covering most surfaces as well as the floor. The house as a whole looked… Incomplete. Almost as if Taehyung’s Mom had started renovating but never finished. Various ornaments of different animals covered the book shelf and tables, giving a strong nature vibe when paired with the wood and large window that would usually bring in lots of light. A framed photo occupied a space on the small table next to the sofa arm, placed next to dirty coasters and rings from where the coasters had failed to be used. Despite being close to such a mess, the frame itself looked freshly cleaned. The photo showed a slightly younger looking Taehyung with his Mother and another boy around Taehyung’s age now.  _His brother._  A hand rested on the boy’s shoulder, but where an arm should follow, instead a massive tear line could be seen. The hand had a ring on it, as did Taehyung’s Mother’s, and slight hair rested on the knuckles of the rough skin.  
“That was the last photo taken of all of us together.” Taehyung stood at the door with two glasses of water in his hands. “If you’re wondering why that one.” Yoongi swallowed, feeling like he’d invaded his family’s privacy even though the photo was out in the open. The glasses made a sound as they were placed on the table in front of the sofa, drawing Yoongi’s attention away from the photo for a moment. “Drink,” Taehyung instructed, pointing to one of the glasses on the table, before sitting down again.  
“Fine.” Yoongi reached to the glass, taking small sips. “Happy now?”  
“Ecstatic.”

Music floated through the air, a soothing atmosphere filling the room as the gentle sounds of soft piano and muted high hats took over. Taehyung and Yoongi had sat talking for some time, both reaching almost fully sober states.  
“It wasn’t his fault. Not really. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, they just… Dealt with it differently I guess…” Taehyung held the photo frame in his hand, looking at it. “I think my Mom just wanted someone to be angry at. And I think My Dad… I think he just didn’t want to be hurt anymore. He wanted to let go but my Mom wasn’t ready. Hell it’s been three years and she still isn’t ready.” Yoongi watched Taehyung’s expression as he spoke.  
“What about you?”  
“What?”  
“Have you… Let go? Like… Really let go. Or are you just putting on a brave face for other people?” Taehyung looked into Yoongi’s eyes, startled at the phrasing of the question.  
“I like to think I’ve moved past it, but… Honestly, as long as my Mom’s a mess over it, I will be too. Her sadness is almost like a reminder of his death. Constantly there, failing to hide…” He breathed in.  
“I get that.” Yoongi caught himself looking at Taehyung’s lips and quickly looked back up, coughing before standing up. “I’ll go get us some more water.” He grabbed the glasses and walked into the kitchen, filling them up at the tap and walking back.  
“Did you fill those up with tap water?” Taehyung asked.  
“Uh, yeah?”  
“The tap water isn’t drinkable. You need to use the jug in the fridge.” He stood up, taking the glasses from Yoongi.  
“Oh. Sorry.”  
“It’s fine. You didn’t know.” The two stood extremely close to each other and Yoongi noticed his eyes wandering again.  
“Yoongi…” Taehyung looked at his lips as well. “Are you homophobic?” Yoongi’s eyes snapped back up as did Taehyung’s.  
“What?”  
“When you and Jungkook were fighting. You called him a… A flaming homo…” Yoongi lowered his head disappointed with himself. “I just… I can’t be friends with some one who thinks they’re better because they’re bi instead of fully gay…”  
“I don’t think that. Seriously, I don’t.” Yoongi sighed. “I wanted to aggravate him. I thought that if I brought up a diary entry that Jimin told me about, then maybe it’d make him mad enough to hit me,” Yoongi said.  
‘Why would you  _want_  him to hit you?” He put the glasses down on the table again.  
“Because I deserve it.”  
“What do you mean, you deserve it?” Taehyung asked.  
“I’m a mess of a person, Tae. I drink too much, I smoke too much, I have hallucinations and then get mad when I don’t have them, I-”  
“Hey.” Taehyung grabbed Yoongi’s chin gently, keeping their eyes locked together. “Just because you might be struggling, doesn’t mean you’re worth any less than anyone else. You don’t  _deserve_  to get hit. Not by a long shot.”  
“You don’t know me well enough to be the judge of that.”  
“But I know you well enough to see that you’re  _not a bad person_.” The air around them felt warm as the two stood so close together, and the feeling of Taehyung’s fingers on Yoongi’s chin was only adding to the heat. Yoongi swallowed hard.  
“Why does it feel like you’re about to kiss me?” He asked, voice quieter than before.  
“Because I’ve been wanting to all night. And the alcohol is still in my system a little bit.”  
“We should go to sleep.” Yoongi moved away, Taehyung’s hand releasing from his face. “If you want, um… If you want we can… Cuddle…” Taehyung’s eyes widened. “I’m sick of feeling lonely,” Yoongi continued. Taehyung nodded softly.  
“Yeah… I’d like that.”

 

Books and paper scattered themselves all along Jungkook’s bed, a closed pen pressed to a page moving along the lines as Jungkook whispered them to himself over and over again.  
“Plasma membrane. Correct. Éndocytosis. Correct. Prokaryotes. Correct. They’re… Not?. Incorrect. Ah, really. We did? I don’t remember that. Sorry. Robert Hook. Correct. No, I knew. Is-” His whispering is interrupted by a gentle knocking on his bedroom door, his Mom slowly opening it to enter. Jungkook quickly collected his various notes and books, hiding any evidence of what he was reading.  
“Hey… You alright in here?” His Mother asked. She stepped into the room, Jungkook clearing space on his bed for her to sit down.  
“Yeah, I’m just… Studying.”  _Technically, that’s not a lie._ She sat down and looked at her son. He looked… Tired.  
“Are you sure you’re okay?”  
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” Jungkook played with the pencil in his hand, watching it intently as he did so, a nervous habit. Mrs. Jeon gently touched Jungkook’s hands, stopping the movement and causing her son to look her in the eyes.  
“Well, your friend got shot for starters… You know you can talk to me, right?”  
“I can’t… Not… Not about this at least.” Jungkook let his gaze fall down again. He wanted to tell his Mom everything, but he couldn’t. She wouldn’t understand. She wouldn’t even  _believe_  him, most likely.  
“Are you… In trouble?” Jungkook’s Mom asked.  
“What do you mean?”  
“Like. Drugs, or-or money, or anything like that-”  
“No, God. Mom, no, nothing like that.” Jungkook moved his hands so he was holding his Mother’s. “We’re dealing with it, okay? You have to trust us. You have to trust me. Please…”  
“I trust you, Jungkook, but… You have to understand how this is for me. As a Mother, as  _your_  Mother. I want to be able to help you in any way I can.” Jungkook hesitated for a moment.  
“There’s nothing you can do.”  _Just believe in me._  “I have to do this on my own.”  _Just tell me you love me in case it’s the last time I see you._ “It’s the only way.”  _Just tell me you’re proud._  The two sat in comfortable silence for a while, letting the emotions hang in the air. “We, um…” Jungkook started. “We find out if Jimin lives or not today…” Although it dodged the finer details, it was still the truth. “I mean… There’s a high chance he’ll live. He has to live otherwise none of this makes sense, but…” He breathed in deep. “There is still a slight chance that he won’t make it. And if he doesn’t, then… Then it’s all my fault.” He stared at nothing in particular, the heaviness of the situation sinking in his heart. He had been so certain that this was going to work but after that conversation with Jimin, he wasn’t so sure.  
 _“I’m a cat.”  
_ _“I’m a cat trapped in a box, and you’re the one that has to open it.”_  
Was Jimin trying to say that he was both dead and alive? Like Schrödinger's cat? Trapped in a box with an unknown fate until the truth is discovered? If that was the case then there was still the possibility of error. Both Jimin’s life and the universe were at stake. Jungkook couldn’t mess this up. He just couldn’t.

 

Walking into the bedroom only took a few seconds, it not being located far from the living room they were previously in. Yoongi looked around, taking in the atmosphere. It didn’t look lived in or personalised, at least not in the way he had expected. There were no bright colors or whacky patterns like he had expected from the younger, instead a warm minimalist design greeted his eyes.  
“I would have expected something a bit more punchy,” Yoongi said.  
“Punchy? What do you mean?”  
“You know. Bright, intense, wa-PAH!” Yoongi karate chopped the air to emphasise his point, coughing awkwardly at the change in persona. “Don’t get me wrong. It’s nice. Just not what I expected.” Taehyung smiled before speaking,  
“Probably because it’s not my room.”  
“What? Then why are we in it?”  
“This is my Mom’s room, I usually sleep in the living room. Whenever she’s out for the night, I’m allowed to sleep in the bed though.”  
“Wait, so you only have one bedroom in the house?” Yoongi asked. As soon as the words left his mouth, he immediately felt guilty. He knew there was only one bedroom, what was Yoongi thinking? He didn’t need to ask, he didn’t need to make it uncomfortable. He cursed himself in his mind but Taehyung didn’t look too bothered.  
“Um, yeah. It was all we could afford at the time on such short notice. I told her she could have the room since I used to fall asleep on the couch all the time at our old place.”  
“I shouldn’t have asked, I’m sor-”  
“It’s fine. It’s not like we’re struggling or anything, we just… Had to make some adjustments to our lifestyle is all.” He smiled and headed towards the bed, sitting on it. “It does mean that there’s only one bed though.”  
“Well I said I wanted to cuddle, didn’t I?” Yoongi had crossed his arms. Not angrily, or sternly, but more to hide himself and feel smaller. Something about the idea of being so comfortable and vulnerable with someone felt so strange after all these years, but he didn’t want to shy away from it. He wanted to embrace it. Taehyung stared at the elder, hesitation in his voice.  
“I um… I sleep… In my underwear… Is that-?”  
“Yeah, me too,” Yoongi interrupted.  
“Okay.” The two looked at each other, breathing audible against the silence in the room. Taehyung let out a laugh. “This doesn’t have to be so awkward, you know.”  
“Don’t blame me! You’re awkward too!” Yoongi exclaimed.  
“I’m only awkward because you are!”  
“Okay! Then… I’ll stop being awkward.”  
“Good.” They both laughed this time, before Taehyung stood up and took off his shirt. “There’s nothing awkward about it.”  
“Right,” Yoongi said, ignoring the increase in his heart rate as he took off his shirt as well. “Just… A couple of gay guys sleeping practically naked together…”  
“Thought you said you were bi.”  
“That’s basically half gay, isn’t it?” Yoongi said as he looked down, taking off his jeans. Although his eyes were tempted to move down, Taehyung kept his attention on the elder’s face.  
“I don’t think it’s as simple as a direct split down the middle but,” he pulled down his own jeans, “you’re the one with the identity, I guess.” The two stood looking at each other before Yoongi made his way to the bed, getting under the cover and turning away as soon as possible. This earned a laugh from Taehyung who joined in beside him and wrapped his arm around Yoongi’s abdomen. Yoongi felt stiff under Taehyung’s touch, clearly not used to the sensation anymore. “You don’t have to be afraid, you know? I’m not going to hurt you.”  
“I know,” Yoongi quickly said. “It’s just been a while since I’ve shared a bed with someone… And you’re really warm…”  
“We can take the cover off if you want?”  
“No, I… I like it.” Taehyung smiled to himself at Yoongi’s words and moved even closer to him. Maybe it was okay for Yoongi to feel safe and loved for once…

“Taehyung-ah...” Taehyung’s eyes fluttered open, a whispering of his name disrupting his sleep. “I’m really sorry, I…” As his eyes adjusted to the dark, a crying, shaking Yoongi sat in front of him, facing away. “It happened again. I- It- I’m sorry.” His breathing was uneven and his eyes darted around in panic.  
“Woah woah, hey, what happened?” Taehyung sat up and held Yoongi close to him, searching his face for any sign of anything.  
“He- It was- He was-” Yoongi struggled to get the words out through his tears. “It was Hoseok… His face- I-” He breathed in sharply as more tears began to erupt from him.  
“Hoseok? What?” Taehyung rubbed circles into Yoongi’s back in an attempt to soothe him.  
“I…” He breathed in slowly and shakily. “I sometimes have these dreams… Hoseok’s back but. He’s not really, he- his face, it’s- it’s the same as the night of the shooting. Cold and-and-and vacant and- he- and it just- he-” Yoongi stopped himself, his breathing getting erratic again. “Fuck. I’m so sorry, Tae. I- I don’t mean to, I just-”  
“Hey, hey, it’s fine. You don’t need to apologise.” Yoongi quickly turned and buried his face into Taehyung’s shoulder. “Just breathe in and out, okay? I um… I read somewhere that if you breath in for four seconds, hold it for seven-”  
“And breath out for eight, yeah I know.” He pulled away. “Hoseok used to tell Jimin to do that whenever he had a panic attack… Fuck.” He curled up small, letting his head rest on his knees, with his hands clutching at the sides of his head. “I thought I was done with these. I thought I didn’t have to deal with this anymore, but… Everything just-”  
“I get it. I do. It’s okay, I’m here for you.” Taehyung placed a hand in Yoongi’s hair, stroking it lightly. Yoongi’s body relaxed under the touch, shaking stopping almost instantly. “Just tell me what you need me to do for you, okay?” Taehyung assured him in a quiet soft tone.  
“Just keep doing that,” Yoongi’s voice mumbled quietly. Taehyung chuckled lightly to himself.  
“Sure thing.” The two stayed like that for a while, Yoongi working on calming his breathing down and soaking in the comforting touches from the younger. It had been so long since Yoongi had last had any dreams or flashbacks related to the shooting and it pained him that they seemed to be back. They may be able to save Jimin, but that didn’t mean that the image of Hoseok’s corpse wouldn’t be ingrained in Yoongi’s mind forever. His cold dead eyes staring back at him would be a picture painted in his subconscious for the rest of time and he knew it, but it was nice to pretend that it wouldn’t. At least for a little while. He took the hand that was stroking his hair and held it in his own as he repositioned himself to be in front of Taehyung. “Are you okay?” Taehyung asked.  
“I think so,” he replied. He moved Taehyung’s hand to rest on his cheek, putting his own on Taehyung’s cheek in return. He leant in and let their lips connect, the younger of the two being slightly startled. The kiss was soft, and full of emotion, Yoongi pulling away slowly and looking into Taehyung’s eyes. “Thank you. That was a lot easier to go through with you here.”  
“You don’t need to thank me, Yoo-” Yoongi held his finger up to Taehyung’s lips.  
“Hyung… You can call me hyung.” He withdrew his finger, revealing a soft smile on Taehyung’s face.  
“Okay, hyung.” He smiled and Yoongi did the same before gently pushing Taehyung’s body down onto the bed and crawling to let himself be able to lay with his head on the younger’s chest.  
“Hand,” Yoongi demanded. Taehyung looked at him puzzled, before Yoongi looked up and grabbed the younger’s hand himself. “Hand,” he said, holding it in the air, as if to demonstrate that was what it was, before laying back down and placing it on his head. Taehyung chuckled quietly, moving his hand to create the same motions from before, earning a small movement and noise barely audible from Yoongi indicating his comfort as they both slowly drifted off to sleep once again.

As light shone through a gap in the curtains, highlighting the dust particles dancing in the air, a soft guitar melody, shortly followed by singing, filled the air. Taehyung opened his eyes at the gentle, yet jarring, sound and reached his arm across to turn it off. He moved slowly and with caution in an attempt to not wake the one attached to him. Soft sounds emitted from Yoongi. Whether from the movement or the continuation of the ringtone, Taehyung wasn’t sure. He successfully reached his way to his phone, seeing a caller ID on screen reading ‘Kim Namjoon’. He clicked to answer out of curiosity and whispered into the device.  
“Hello?”  
“Hey, have you heard from Jungkook?” Namjoon’s voice spoke.  
“No, why?” Taehyung continued to whisper.  
“He stormed off yesterday and I feel bad. Why are you whispering?”  
“Uh…” He looked to the boy resting against his chest with his arm draped over his body, trying to find an answer that wasn’t as intimate. “Yoongi stayed the night at mine since he didn’t want his parents to see him drunk.”  
“So? He’s not going to hear you from another room.” Taehyung paused, trying to come up with an excuse, but failing miserably.  
“He’s not, um… He’s not in another room…”  
“Did he refuse the bed or something?” Namjoon said. Taehyung’s eyes lit up.  
“Yes. That’s exactly what happened. We’re both in the living room, him on the sofa, me on the floor.”  
“Then why don’t you just move to the bedroom so you can speak?”  _Shit._  
“Is that Namjoon?” A groggy voice spoke. Yoongi stretched his arms and licked his lips showing that he was clearly awake now, despite his eyes still being closed shut. “What does he want?” Taehyung pulled the phone down from his ear slightly, hand covering the receiver.  
“He’s asking about Jungkook,” he said.  
“Mm, gimme.” Yoongi reached out his hand, asking for the phone with his eyes still shut and body still pressed against Taehyung. He grabbed the phone from Taehyung’s grasp, giving up on getting permission, and began to speak. “I’d assume Jungkook is at home since he, like me, enjoys sleep. Sleep, which I would like to get back to. Go to his house. If he’s not awake, I’m sure his Mom will answer.” He handed the phone back to Taehyung before snuggling back into his chest.  
“I um, I don’t want to go alone though. I feel like he hates me,” Namjoon spoke.  
“He doesn’t hate you. He could never hate you, you know that.” Taehyung now spoke at a regular volume, his voice still gentle from sleepiness. “Just go speak to him, okay?”  
“Okay. Sorry to bother you, Tae.”  
“It’s fine, don’t worry.” He reached a hand into Yoongi’s hair once again, stroking gently. “I’m sure we’ll both fall asleep again soon enough.”  
“I’ll text you if anything comes up.”  
“Okay. Bye, hyung.”  
“See you.” Taehyung hung up the phone, breathing out heavily, looking at the boy on his chest.  
“Hyung?” He asked.  
“Mm?”  
“Can we talk about last night?” Yoongi froze, his breath halting for a moment.  
“Why do you want to talk about it?” His voice was muffled slightly, his face being somewhat squished against the younger’s body.  
“Because I want to know if it was real or not… Whether it was just something in the moment or… I don’t know…” Taehyung’s voice trailed off at the end as Yoongi began to sit up, hand still keeping contact with Taehyung’s chest.  
“Do we really have to think about it? We already have so much going on, I… I really don’t want to add feelings shit on top of it.”  
“Don’t you think there’ll be more ‘feelings shit’ if we just leave it as an unknown mess?”  
“Who says it has to be a mess?” Yoongi started. He sounded so soft and fragile compared to other time the two had spoken. It was strange seeing him in this way, so vulnerable and gentle. “Was it messy with you and Jungkook?” Taehyung blinked a few times at the sudden question.  
“Sometimes… Yeah. We were so worried about potentially ruining our friendship that we became afraid to commit. And now… I’ve lost my chance with him forever because of that.”  
“Do you regret it?” Yoongi let his hand trail delicately along Taehyung’s chest as he spoke. “Losing your chance?”  
“Surprisingly… I don’t.” He tried not to get distracted by the soft touches on his body as he spoke. “I think that some things are meant to happen the way they do. If Jungkook and I got together properly then maybe he wouldn’t have fallen for Jimin. Or maybe he would have and I would have gotten angry or upset about it and not helped in anyway. If things didn’t pan out the way they did then maybe we wouldn’t have been able to save Jimin.”  
“We haven’t saved him yet. Don’t get your hopes up,” Yoongi interjected.  
“Okay, but we know it works though.”  
“No we don’t, Tae.” Yoongi’s hand stopped it’s movements, defeat inching its way to his heart.  
“You don’t know… Do you?” Yoongi looked up at the younger’s words, confused. “Jungkook’s seen Jimin. Several times. He’s alive, Hyung.” Yoongi paused, processing the information.  
“Holy shit.”

The two finally separated and got dressed, Yoongi borrowing a sweatshirt from Taehyung which, due to the size difference, swallowed him whole. His clothes from the night before smelled like alcohol and general night-out-ness, so a change for the new day was certainly needed.  
“Do you want breakfast or anything?” Taehyung spoke up.  
“Just some coffee would be great.”  
“One coffee coming right up.” He left the room, heading towards the kitchen and grabbing some instant coffee from the cupboard. Yoongi followed and winced slightly at the sight of instant coffee being used. He knew he shouldn’t complain, but part of him was slightly disappointed at the downgrade from his usual morning beverage. As Taehyung boiled the kettle, a text had come through on his phone.

_Kim Namjoon  
_ _Couldn’t find JK but he called me and told me we should all meet up. Thoughts?_

Coffee making production came to a halt as he took the time to reply.

_You  
_ _All? As in Yoongi as well?_

_Kim Namjoon  
_ _Yeah. I think it’s about the third. He sounded really nervous._

_You  
_ _Okay, yeah sure. I’ll let hyung know._

_Kim Namjoon  
_ _Glad to see you two are getting along well now._

_You  
_ _Yeah, you could say that, haha._

Taehyung put the phone down, tending back to the coffee, stealing occasional glances at Yoongi through the doorway which connected the two rooms. The elder boy sat on the sofa, phone in hand, social media at his fingertips, the screen brightness helping to wake him up a bit more.  
“Hyung,” Taehyung’s voice called through as he walked to approach the couch. “Jungkook wants us all to meet. You good with that?”  
“Uh, yeah. I guess.” His eyes didn’t move from the screen in front of him.  
“You sure?”  
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” His voice was dismissive and unattentive, his focus on the various tweets attached to his device instead.  
“Namjoon said it might be about the 3rd… I just wanted to make sure you’re okay to talk about it. You know, considering what happened last night…” Yoongi froze and locked his screen.  
“I’ll be fine.” He turned his head to look at Taehyung. “Seriously, don’t worry about me.” The sound of the kettle clicking caught Taehyung’s attention, pulling him away from the conversation. He continued making the coffee, bringing the mug out to Yoongi, along with a glass of orange juice for himself. “Are you not eating anything?” Yoongi asked.  
“I’ll grab something on the way to meet the others.”

The four decided to meet up at a café, Taehyung then choosing to buy food there instead. Jungkook had already arrived by the time the two had showed up and ordered some food and drinks. They sat around one of the tables by the window, Yoongi and Taehyung sitting on one side, and Jungkook on the opposite. Jungkook sipped on his hot chocolate as they all took their seats, Taehyung happy with his choice of hot chocolate and a chocolate brownie to go with, and Yoongi pleased with his choice of more coffee, only this time in iced form. Chatter began as they waited for Namjoon to join them.  
“I’m sorry for storming off without explaining yesterday…” Jungkook suddenly said.  
“I’ll be real, I don’t remember much of yesterday,” Yoongi replied, sipping from his coffee. Taehyung whipped his around to look at the elder.  
“You don’t?” Yoongi looked at Taehyung with an expression as if to say ‘of course I remember  _that_ ’ but the meaning was lost on the younger of the two. At the realisation of this, a hand made its way to Taehyung’s thigh, placing itself gently as a comforting gesture. The hand was retracted faster than the speed of light as the bell above the café door rang and Namjoon made his way to the table. As soon as Namjoon came into view, Jungkook instantly stood up, running over and hugging the tall boy in front of him.  
“Woah, hey. You alright?”  
“I’m so sorry for snapping at you.” Jungkook’s voice was muffled by the fabric of Namjoon’s coat. “We don’t have time to be mad at each other, so let’s not be. Okay?” He kept his face buried in Namjoon’s shoulder as the elder patted his back gently.  
“I should have told you the second I realised. I’m sorry. No hard feelings though. Alright?” The younger nodded, still holding on tight.   
“So, what now?” Yoongi spoke up. “We have maybe a week until we need to do the switch. Is everything ready? Do we even know how to initiate the switching?”  
“I assume sleeping pills again,” Namjoon answered. “That’s what we did last time, right?”  
“It worked then, so it should work this time too,” Jungkook chimed in.  
“Hey, Jungkook,” Yoongi said. Jungkook looked the elder in the eyes, his expression soft. “If you want to practice anything or just go over it, just call me, okay?” He swallowed. “This has to go well. You know that, right?”  
“Yeah, hyung… I know.”


	23. 23

The holidays had ended and school was back in session. Hallways crowded with students, chatter following their footsteps as they walked. Everything was back to equilibrium. At least for most students. As people made their way to their respective classes, Jungkook, Taehyung, Namjoon, and Yoongi had met up in the room where they had started planning the operation in the first place.  
Dust particles danced in the air as they stood in a circle, final words being said.  
“Are you sure you’re ready?” Concern laced its way into the words Namjoon spoke which made a gentle smile emit onto Jungkook’s face.  
“I am.” He breathed in deep. “I have to be.”  
“If Jimin’s really here then that means if something goes wrong, it won’t just overwrite the timeline. It’ll cause a paradox and destroy time as we know it. It could possibly cause the end of everything… You need to be one hundred percent certain that you can do this.”  
“Hyung… I’m certain.” The two looked at each other, an understanding of the trust required for this operation to work. Taehyung stepped forward quickly, embracing the younger in a hug. Jungkook widened his eyes at the sudden movement, but accepted it anyway. The two hugged as Taehyung whispered into Jungkook’s ear.  
“You got this, Jungkook… I believe in you.” These words were enough to give Jungkook more confidence and motivation. They held on for a moment longer before breaking apart, Yoongi taking a small step further and holding his hand out to Jungkook as Taehyung stepped back.  
“See you in the past, kid.” Jungkook shook Yoongi’s hand in a sophisticated manner. “You got this. Don’t stress too much.” With his free hand he patted Jungkook’s shoulder before stepping away.  
“Okay that marks forty-five minutes,” Namjoon said, looking at his phone. “Do you feel it kicking in?” By ‘it’ he was clearly referring to the sleeping pill the younger had taken.  
“A little bit.”  
“Okay. Let’s get you on the sofa I guess.” The three walked with Jungkook as he laid himself on the sofa, ready to go to sleep. Taehyung held onto his hand, stroking it with his thumb gently.  
“We have everything set up for when Jimin gets here, you don’t need to worry, okay? We have everything sorted out, it’ll be okay.” Taehyung’s hushed tone mixed with his gentle touches was comforting to Jungkook as he could feel himself getting more and more tired. “Namjoon and I will keep an eye out and make sure no one comes in. This’ll work.”  
“Promise?”  
“I promise.”

Like a camera lens being adjusted, everything came into focus. A classroom filled with students he had come to recognise, and a younger, less distraught version of Yoongi sat to his right.  _I’m here._ He immediately turned the pages in Jimin’s notebook, using the pen in his hand to scribble down the note he had memorised.

 _Jimin._ _  
_ _It’s important that you read this note in its entirety, as it may be a life or death situation.  
_ _That dream you had with Kim Namjoon and Kim Taehyung. It wasn’t a dream. And deep down, you know that.  
_ _You don’t know me yet but you will one day, and trust me when I say that I’ve earned your trust.  
_ _I’m here to save your life. So do as I say.  
_ _In roughly three years time an event will happen. I can’t tell you the event, but you’ll know when it happens. You will need to fake your death. Your family and your friends will need to believe that you are dead, otherwise you really will be. If you go to Lee Minseok in Busan he can set you up with documents to get you started with a new life which you can live out in Busan with him. He’ll keep your secret safe, I promise you that.  
_ _On the 3rd of January in four years time, you’ll know who I am and you’ll be back in Seoul. Meet me and the others at 7pm in the canteen.  
_ _Please. I know this all sounds crazy but it’s real.  
_ _I just want you to be safe.  
_ _And I fear this is the only way.  
_ _I love you._

_\- JK_

He put the pen down and made sure the note was accurate before turning to Yoongi and grabbing his hand in his own, making direct eye contact. Yoongi’s eyes fluttered around confused at the sudden action.  
“Everything’s going to work out, hyung. I promise.” He said his lines exactly as he had rehearsed and Yoongi gave him the exact same look he was told to expect.  _Everything’s going to plan. This is good._

 

Jimin’s eyes fluttered open.  _Weird._  He thought to himself. He couldn’t even remember falling asleep. The room he was in seemed familiar in design, but he couldn’t place his actual location. Looking down at his school uniform, he guessed this must have been one of the rooms at his school. Why didn’t he remember coming into the room though? And why is his name badge missing?  
“You’re awake.” Sat on the other sofa nearby, Yoongi spoke, book in his hand.  
“Your hair’s different.” Jimin rubbed at his eyes, trying to be rid of the confusion he was experiencing. Yoongi could feel his heartbeat increasing.  _This is really Jimin.  
_“My hair’s always been like this, what are you on about?” The plan on Yoongi, Taehyung, and Namjoon’s end was to keep Jimin confined in this room, and make him just confused enough to think that it’s a dream so as not to freak out, but not so confused that he feels the need to investigate. The mirror in the corner of the room had been covered up and Jungkook’s name badge had been removed so that there would be no potential freak out due to having someone else’s face.  
“Why does my voice sound weird?” Jimin’s hand reached to his throat and Yoongi felt himself panicking slightly.  
“What do you mean?”  
“It sounds deeper…” Yoongi paused for a second, attempting to come up with something before blurting out the first thing that came to mind.  
“Maybe you finally hit puberty.” He laughed to himself and Jimin pulled a face at him.  _Even his movements are so… Jimin._

Namjoon and Taehyung stood outside of the room, waiting for their individual cues to come in. As Yoongi and Jungkook’s voices were muffled through the door, they could tell it had started. Jimin was awake. Namjoon let out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding, causing Taehyung to look over.  
“You okay?”  
“I’m fine, I just…” Namjoon was usually the calm and collected one in situations, but it was clear that something was up. He continued in a hushed tone so that anyone in the hallway wouldn’t be able to hear. “If Jungkook messes up, there’s a chance that we could just… Stop existing.” Taehyung’s jaw tightened. “I think I’m scared that might happen… I can’t even begin to comprehend what it would feel like.”  
“He’s not going to mess up,” Taehyung interrupted. The face he received in exchange was one of doubt.  
“You don’t know that.”  
“You’re right. I don’t,” Taehyung said. “But I have hope. And right now that’s all I need.” The muffled sound of laughter let the two know that Jimin had settled, and that it was time for them to enter.

They entered the room, pretending to continue a conversation before stopping and greeting Yoongi as if nothing was out of the ordinary. They spoke for a short while before turning to Jimin.  
“Hey… Park Jimin, right?” Namjoon spoke. “I saw you in the dance show last year, you were amazing. Nice to meet you, dude.” He put his hand out to shake, an odd thing for him to do, and Jimin responded, shaking it thoroughly.  
“Y-Yeah, you too… Who are you?” Jimin asked.  
“Namjoon. Kim Namjoon. This is Taehyung.” He indicated to the man next to him and they both smiled wholeheartedly.  
“Also,  _Kim_ Taehyung, but, no relation.” Yoongi added. Jimin felt… Confused.  
“I’m sorry, how long have you known them? I’ve never seen them before.” Jimin asked.  
“I’ve always known them.” Jimin furrowed his brows. So many things seemed off. How did he even get in this room and why was it so normal for him to be asleep here? The only conclusion the boy could come up with was that it had to be a dream. A very realistic dream. But a dream nonetheless. Exactly as the others had planned.

 

Listening to the teacher talk felt extremely boring to Jungkook. His mind was focused on anything BUT science right now. He had to, however, keep track of what was going on to be aware of when to answer.   
“Now who remembers the outermost boundary of a cell?” His hand raised up high and students turned around as the teacher called upon him.  
“Plasma membrane.”  
“Nicely done, Jimin.” He smiled to himself at the praise, just as Jimin would have done, and went back to doodling in the back of Jimin’s notebook whilst keeping an ear out for the next question. Yoongi stole a glance at the boy beside him, eyebrows furrowed. Just yesterday Jimin was saying he struggled with cells?  _I guess he studied after dance practice._  It wasn’t long before the next questions followed and Jungkook answered them all, including the one he had to get wrong. “Okay, now blue green algae. Also a prokaryotes or not?”  
“They’re… Not?” Jungkook raised his tone at the end to sound like he was questioning his own response, just as he had rehearsed a million times and Yoongi turned to him, further continuing the script he knew by heart.  
“We literally talked about that yesterday. How’d you forget?”  _Ah, really. We did? I don’t remember that. Sorry._  
“Ah, really. We did? I don’t remember that. Sorry.” He said each word verbatim, and Yoongi continued his confused glaring.  _Give it a few years_ , Jungkook thought.  _You’ll understand eventually._

After class had ended, the pair travelled to Jimin’s locker, Jungkook knowing the location and combination from his previous switches. As he opened the locker door, his hand brushed against a water bottle that quickly fell to the floor, his hands fumbling to catch it. Water spilled everywhere, the cap being somewhat loose.  
“Oh, fuck!” He scrambled to the floor, picking it up and placed it back into the locker space. “Jesus Christ, now my uniforms all wet.” He flicked his hands in the air, trying to be rid of any water dripping from them and turned around to face Yoongi, stopping once he realised. His hand threw to his mouth in shock. “That wasn’t part of the script,” he said. “I- That didn’t happen, you didn’t-” He stared, eyes wide, at Yoongi, horror painted across his face.  
“Are you okay?” Yoongi asked, concern evident. Jungkook let his eyes dart around frantically, an idea coming to mind. He opened Jimin’s notebook, scribbling a message in it and immediately ripping it out, folding it and reaching his arm out in an attempt to tell Yoongi to take it.  
“Open this in three years time. I know it sounds crazy but just trust me. Open it in three years and you’ll understand and know what to do and everything will work out okay.”  
“Wha-”  
“JUST PROMISE ME YOU’LL DO IT!”

His focus faded and the Yoongi in front of him had been replaced by the older version. The space around him shifting to the abandoned room he fell asleep in before.  
“Jimin?” Yoongi asked, searching for life in the youngers eyes. Jungkook shook his head.  
“Not anymore.” Yoongi’s shoulders slumped slightly and Jungkook could see the disappointment in his return. Namjoon stepped forward.  
“So? How’d it go?” Jungkook’s eyes flickered around before they landed on Yoongi once again.  
“You read the note right?” Desperation swam in his irises as he anticipated the elder’s answer.  
“What note?” Jungkook’s heart sank.  
“The- The note.” His breathing sped up slightly. “That I gave you. I told you to read it in three years time.” He stood up, walking closer to the boy. “Please say you read it. Please.” Yoongi opened his mouth slightly, hesitant to let the words out.  
“Guk, I-” He stared into the younger’s eyes, shaking his head slightly. “I’m sorry, I-” Jungkook swallowed, and Yoongi’s expression went back to normal. “I just wanted to mess with you. Of course I read it you dumbass!” He punched Jungkook’s arm playfully as he sighed a sigh of relief. “Good thinking on that, honestly. I don’t know what I would have done in your situation.” Jungkook ran and hugged Yoongi, glad that the plan had worked despite his slip up. Although at first he was reluctant, Yoongi let himself sink into the hug, closing his eyes and really embracing the younger. It really worked.  
_Jimin’s alive._

The second that class ended, Jungkook ran out, shoving his way past the other students.  _It’s time._  He ran into the hallway, seeing Namjoon running up to join him, shortly followed by Taehyung and Yoongi. Students began to flood out of classrooms around them, all making their way to self-study, and the group of four followed the flow of people before diverting off into another hallway.

The canteen was empty, as expected, and silence echoed in the air as the four stood facing each other in a circle.  
“You said he’s meeting us here, right?” Taehyung asked, looking at Jungkook for an answer.  
“Yeah. That’s what I wrote at least.” He looked at his phone, taking note of the time.  _7:01pm._  “He should be here any minute,” he continued. The four waited some more, before Jungkook grew impatient. “I’m going to go see if he’s wandering around or something.” He left the group promptly, not seeing the mouths behind him open in protest to stop him.

Jungkook walked slowly through the hallways, looking into classrooms and cupboards, just in case. It seemed as though no one was around until a figure caught the boy’s eye, stood by the window.  _Jimin.  
_“Jimin!” He called out, the figure immediately turning around. “I… You had me worried for a second.” The figure walked forward, not saying anything. “Come on… Let’s go. The other’s want to see you.” Jimin inched closer, something akin to sadness on his face. “Yoongi’s there. He really misses you.” Continuing to not speak, Jimin nodded his head, a soft smile appearing. Jungkook smiled back in response, leading Jimin back to the canteen.

As Jungkook entered the room, Jimin following behind, soft chatter from Namjoon and Taehyung could be heard as Yoongi watched the younger come in, hope in his eyes.  
“Everybody… Meet Park Jimin. In the flesh, his own flesh.” Jungkook chuckled at his words, stepping aside to show Jimin off to the others. The three looked to Jungkook’s side and Yoongi’s face fell.  
“Well… Where is he then?” Yoongi asked, looking back to Jungkook.  
“What do you mean? He’s right there.” Jungkook looked to his side, seeing nothing but air. “Wait, but- He was-” He span around, looking frantically. “No, no, he was right there! What the fuck happened?!”  
“Guk…” Namjoon started.  
“He was right there!”  
“No, he wasn’t…” Jungkook looked at Namjoon as the words came out of his mouth.  
“What?”  
“Jungkook… There was no one there…” Taehyung said.  
“No, I- I saw him in the hall, and I brought him here!” Tears welled up in Jungkook’s eyes. “I-I saved him…”  
“I guess you can’t change the past after all,” Yoongi said before leaving the group.  
“Wait, Yoongi!” Taehyung called out, watching the elder exit. Jungkook fell to his knees, emotions taking over his body. Namjoon came over, kneeling down beside the boy and hugging him.  
“I… I really thought I had saved him, hyung… I- I thought that-”  
“Hey, hey… It’ll be okay, Guk… It’ll be okay.”  
Jimin was dead…  
_Jimin was really dead…_

T H E  E N D

 


End file.
